Proton Launches Encrypted Docs, Pledging Privacy Over AI as Conversion Issues Linger

Proton Launches Encrypted Docs with Commitment to User Privacy, But Conversion Issues Persist

Key features of Proton Docs: Proton, a privacy-focused Swiss tech firm, has launched Proton Docs, an encrypted document editing and sharing feature within its Proton Drive product:

• Documents are end-to-end encrypted, preventing their use in training generative AI models unless users actively choose to feed their content to an AI.
• Users can share documents with others by adding their email addresses and revoking permissions later if needed.
• The new feature aims to make Proton Drive a more viable competitor to Google Drive by enabling real-time editing and collaboration.

Conversion issues and limitations: Early tests reveal that Proton Docs still has some kinks to work out in converting and displaying existing formatted documents:

• An 80-page .docx file lost formatting, text, headers, footers, and page breaks when opened in Proton Docs, despite displaying accurately in the Drive preview.
• Shorter .docx files fared better but still saw some formatting like strikethroughs and heading styles stripped out.
• .txt files seemed to convert with the fewest issues, while .pages files are not supported at all.
• Proton acknowledged these issues and says it is working on fixes and plans to expand supported file types in the future.

Proton’s privacy stance: Unlike Google, which is integrating its Gemini AI across its Drive suite and using it to analyze user data, Proton has taken a strong public stance against using customer files to train AI models:

• Proton indexes Drive files locally on user devices to enable searching without sending data to the cloud.
• The company states users “should be free to work on drafts without your data being collected, scanned, and abused for profit.”
• This commitment to privacy sets Proton apart but may also slow down its ability to match the AI-powered features of competitors.

Looking ahead: While Proton Docs is not yet a full-fledged Google Docs replacement, the company’s user-first privacy stance is a compelling differentiator as concerns grow over how tech giants are using personal files to train AI. However, Proton will need to quickly address conversion issues and expand functionality to become a viable alternative for privacy-conscious users. Its measured approach reflects the difficult balance between competing on features and staying true to its core values around user control and consent.