After reviewing your feedback, we want to share the new Free Inactive Account Policy.
Why does Proton need an inactivity policy?
Inactive data stored on Proton servers increases the risk of abuse and the operating cost for everyone in the community. The updated policy ensures that we:
Offer the best services to our active users
Manage our resources in a sustainable way
Protect all users who need Proton Privacy products
As many of you know, Proton is a community-funded organization providing free access to our services to millions around the world. We do not have venture capital funding or advertising profits, making our user subscriptions our only source of revenue.
What is the new policy?
Free inactive accounts and all data associated with them will be deleted after one year.
How do I keep my account active?
Subscribers are automatically considered active.
Users on a free plan need to log in or use our services once every 12 months. If you are already logged in, you should use one of our products at least once every 12 months (for example, access your inbox, read an email, connect to a VPN server, etc.).
For Proton Mail, activity is considered by Account, not by email address. Keeping an active Account ensures that any email addresses you created for that Account (@proton.me, @pm.me, etc.) also remain active.
If you are subject to insurmountable circumstances that won’t allow you to stay active on your account for 12 months, please get in touch with Customer Support.
When does it start?
There will be a one-year grace period before the new policy takes place on April, 9, 2026, providing two years of inactivity to current free users.
When will I be notified?
Notifications will be sent to your recovery email 30, 15, and 7 days before any action is taken.
Thank you for providing your feedback in building this policy and let us know if you have any questions about it.
Is there some way to handle setting a contact to have the chance to recover the account in case of someone passing away or being incapable of accessing the account before it is deleted?
You are not logged in. However you can subscribe from another Fediverse account, for example Lemmy or Mastodon. To do this, paste the following into the search field of your instance: !protonprivacy@lemmy.world
Empowering you to choose a better internet where privacy is the default. Protect yourself online with
Proton Mail, Proton VPN, Proton Calendar, Proton Drive. Proton Pass and SimpleLogin.
Proton Mail is the world’s largest secure email provider. Swiss, end-to-end encrypted, private, and free.
Proton VPN is the world’s only open-source, publicly audited, unlimited and free VPN. Swiss-based, no-ads, and no-logs.
Proton Calendar is the world’s first end-to-end encrypted calendar that allows you to keep your life private.
Proton Drive is a free end-to-end encrypted cloud storage that allows you to securely backup and share your files. It’s open source, publicly audited, and Swiss-based.
Proton Pass Proton Pass is a free and open-source password manager which brings a higher level of security with rigorous end-to-end encryption of all data (including usernames, URLs, notes, and more) and email alias support.
SimpleLogin lets you send and receive emails anonymously via easily-generated unique email aliases.
It seems like a very reasonable policy.
Is there some way to handle setting a contact to have the chance to recover the account in case of someone passing away or being incapable of accessing the account before it is deleted?