Startmail price drop

[Csin]

The email service run by Startpage has dropped the price by 50%.

https://www.startmail.com/en/?pk_campaign=startpage

In case anyone cares. As Startpage has begun censoring search results like Google, I would not trust them, but would trust them a tiny bit more than Google/Gmail!

[jeffpan]

Originally Posted by Csin

The email service run by Startpage has dropped the price by 50%.

https://www.startmail.com/en/?pk_campaign=startpage

In case anyone cares. As Startpage has begun censoring search results like Google, I would not trust them, but would trust them a tiny bit more than Google/Gmail!

I don't trust this company. one of my friends has account with them, and the account got frozen by them with unknown reasons.

you can get a lifetime account from PrivateMail for 100+ USD which is also 10GB size.

[ioneja]

I like StartMail, and I've currently got a paid account with them and I've had no problems, very good customer support, and overall I like the service, and will probably renew. I try to research and test just about every privacy-oriented email service on the market, and IMO, StartMail is currently a reputable, reliable, well-designed, and well-run service. (I say "currently" because as we all know, things can change in this industry and who knows what will happen with any so-called "private" provider in X number of years.)

BTW they run these 50% off deals several times a year, so it's 50% off the first year. If you miss this 50% deal, there will be another one... sometimes they run 50% promotions with famous bloggers or podcasters who sometimes talk about privacy-oriented services.

Anyway, I would put them on the "good" side of the privacy-oriented providers overall in terms of features, price, business model, etc., and I think anyone who understands how privacy works with email knows that email is not the way to go if you really want true privacy. Absolute privacy just doesn't exist. That's a different discussion though.

However, among the "privacy-oriented" services out there, this is a good to very good provider and IMO they can be trusted with your email far more than any of the US-based big tech companies, and most of the smaller email providers too.

Originally Posted by Csin

The email service run by Startpage...

I reached out to StartMail when I was researching them, and my understanding from StartMail people is that Startpage and StartMail are different companies, and although they are related and share several personnel, StartMail is independently run.

Startpage recently received a big interest stake from a US company, which raised some alarm among privacy people about the independence of Startpage and especially StartMail. Lots of incorrect info and conjecture floated around the Internet about it. PrivacyTools even de-listed them I believe. The execs have supposedly gone to great lengths to keep the privacy policies and business entities (and even servers) separate from US jurisdiction. They are fully under EU and Dutch data laws. They are GDPR compliant and have Dutch data protection, so just by jurisdiction alone, they are vastly better than Google, Microsoft/Outlook service, etc., etc... and also better than some other well-known providers in this forum, such as Fastmail's Australian jurisdiction (and don't get me started on Fastmail's privacy policy, which to their credit is still better than Google's of course, but nowhere near as good as StartMail's privacy policy). You can be the judge of their story and intentions yourself, but I've done my own digging and find them reputable. And BTW, PrivacyTools decided to re-list them again -- both Startpage AND StartMail are on their list again.

If you read through StartMail's privacy policy and TOS, you'll see they are utterly different and definitely categorizing themselves as a privacy-oriented service.

Originally Posted by Csin

In case anyone cares. As Startpage has begun censoring search results like Google, I would not trust them, but would trust them a tiny bit more than Google/Gmail!

Every search engine has been accused of censoring, including DuckDuckGo supposedly bowing to authoritarian pressures. I'm not excusing any censorship, and I'd like to know more specifics of what Startpage is accused of. I've read some forum posts about it elsewhere but didn't see anything remotely in the same league as other search engines, and again, Startpage is not StartMail.

Even if there were some issues with Startpage's search results, that's not the only part of the story -- Startpage doesn't collect your data, doesn't keep your search queries, doesn't connect its analytics to your IP, etc., and that's all far far better than Google, so it's not about trusting Startpage a little bit more than Google..... it's miles difference. Startpage is still a decent search engine from what I have researched compared to other search engines (personally I use DuckDuckGo most of the time), but again, Startpage is not StartMail.

As for StartMail, I've seen no evidence that they are not a legit privacy-oriented email service trying their best to be a good privacy option in the market.

Originally Posted by jeffpan

I don't trust this company. one of my friends has account with them, and the account got frozen by them with unknown reasons.

Sorry to hear their account was frozen, perhaps your friend can contact customer support to find out more what might have happened -- I've contacted them several times and they have been very professional and courteous.

Their terms of service outlines exactly what might cause service cancellations with them, and it's a comparatively good TOS IMO -- https://www.startmail.com/en/terms-of-service/

Originally Posted by jeffpan

you can get a lifetime account from PrivateMail for 100+ USD which is also 10GB size.

PrivateMail looks interesting, I've seen them mentioned here in this forum and I haven't had a chance to do a deep dive yet. They appear to have added some features since the last time I looked at their site. I have been meaning to check them out at some point, and on first glance they look like a US-based service out of Florida, so the jurisdiction is terrible. Feature-wise on paper it looks comparable to similar privacy-oriented services, though, and I noticed they now have an iOS and Android app (good to see!). I scanned their privacy policy and it's not great, but nothing too different than other US providers. They have US support, and a toll free number, which is nice to see. Definitely worth checking out, but due to the US jurisdiction it will be a no-go for some users. There are good use-cases though, and I'm always excited to see any privacy-oriented service, even ones based in the US.

BTW, I didn't see that $100 lifetime deal... do you have link? I just see the monthly/quarterly/etc/ prices.

[jeffpan]

> BTW, I didn't see that $100 lifetime deal... do you have link? I just see the monthly/quarterly/etc/ prices.

it's not exactly 100USD. but 100+ USD, IIRC for me it's 139 USD. you need to contact their sales by ticket for a special offer. Since I bought this package it works good for me.

[ioneja]

Originally Posted by jeffpan

it's not exactly 100USD. but 100+ USD, IIRC for me it's 139 USD. you need to contact their sales by ticket for a special offer. Since I bought this package it works good for me.

Thanks, jeffpan. Glad they work well for you. Hopefully soon I'll have extra time to do some more research on PrivateMail and then if all goes well, I might also spring for the lifetime deal. I'm always looking for privacy-oriented services. I try to research their history, ownership, business model, support, security model, etc... UI and usability are pretty important to me too, so hopefully the webmail client is good. Anyway, it's a fun side interest of mine and it's unusual to see a US-based privacy-oriented email service, so PrivateMail is on my short list and I need to follow up at some point and find out more.

BTW I've had luck with a couple of other cloud/service providers over the years that offered lifetime deals, and in a couple of cases, I already got my money's worth, so sometimes it does work out well. Cross fingers that's the case for you and PrivateMail!

As for StartMail, it's probably a keeper for me so far. Like I mentioned, I will probably renew. It has some nice workflow/usability features that are growing on me. I'd put them in my top 5-6 favorite "privacy-oriented" email providers, which include ProtonMail, Tutanota, Mailfence, Mailbox.org, and Posteo. Kolab Now has been in and out of my favorites over the years (mainly due to some odd things I experienced with their support -- nothing terrible, just didn't sit well with me, but could have been lost in translation kind of thing), CTemplar has been way too slow for me, but if they could improve performance, they might move up my list. I've tested/used/paid for many others in this market segment over the years, but usually they fail in some spectacular way (I just can't trust Hushmail again for example), or I'm not convinced by their technical promises, or their support or webmail isn't solid. But StartMail is right in there, been positive experience to this point, given me no reason as of today to doubt they are good.

And that's nothing terrible to say about other providers that I think are good, but aren't really "privacy-oriented" services IMO. FastMail is good, for example, and I still use them, but they are the victim of a terrible jurisdiction and invasive government (Australia, as you know), so they're stuck unless they physically relocate. It doesn't help that their servers are in the US too, and now they apparently have some support services in India I believe, so then your data is subject to three lousy jurisdictions (and nothing against the fine people of Australia, US, and India!). But I still like them as a company, and their intentions are good IMO. Runbox has other issues, and is also not really a privacy-oriented email IMO, although they are in Norway, a *much* better jurisdiction than FastMail in every way. I really like them as a company too, and their support people are super nice and professional, but they just can't get their new webmail client to a point that I like it after all these years. I still use their old webmail client!

Anyway, I'm rambling. Thanks for the heads up on PrivateMail!