Proton doesn't really support anonymous payments. Let's demand that they do

Proton_Team:

Lastly, we do support anonymous payments, and we have since day one: cash.

I’ve explained why your direct cash payments are not anonymous, and I am sure that you understand. By requiring my username, I am no longer anonymous to you. And as I explained, other privacy services have found a way to not require usernames for cash payments. Please follow their model.

The issue isn’t just about a Proton agent knowing who I am. It’s also about Proton agents seeing my profile. I’ve explained how customer support agents seeing your profile can lead to privacy invasions. It happens every day. See ATM vs bank teller analogy.

Proton_Team:

we have also long supported non-reloadable Visa/Mastercards bought with cash (for example at petrol stations, train stations, etc) as a non-KYC way to buy Proton subscriptions online. It has actually been an extremely popular and widely adopted payment method.

I did not know about that.

Is this information that you advertise and that most people know about?

To which specific countries is this available in the world?

Because if it’s only a select few, that leaves a lot of people out, if not the majority.

Case in point:

Encounter5729:

I don’t intend to take away from the overall good response, but please be aware that many european countries now ban those / require an I’d for those.

Proton_Team:

Now we’re looking at more ways to expand this, hence our recent collaboration with ProxyStore to provide access to Proton subscriptions via XMR payments.

The easiest way for Proton to make anonymous payments widely accessible would be to allow gift cards on the Proxy Store and allow direct cash payments for gift cards, because your current direct cash payments are not anonymous.

Nostromo:

Also, don’t think there is any evidence of Proton linking Gift Card purchases to redemption of the same to any account so that’s another way.

According to @CarefMouse there is evidence.

But even if there wasn’t any evidence of Proton tracing gift card payments it wouldn’t matter. The simple fact that it’s possible is evidence enough, which is why it’s misleading to call it anonymous, and more than reasonable to ask that Proton make gift cards purchasable directly with cash and sell them on the Proxy Store.

When you buy a Proton voucher from the Proxy Store and redeem it to your account, Proton knows that you bought your voucher from the Proxy Store. This is the same for every privacy service on the Proxy Store. Proton doesn’t know who you are, but they know you got it from the Proxy Store.

If you buy a Proton voucher in the Proxy Store and you pay via bank transfer, which is an option, the Proxy Store knows who you are. But thankfully, the Proxy store accepts anonymous methods of payments like cash (no username) and Monero.

As I mentioned in my original post, Proton’s gift cards are exclusively sold by Proton in their store. And you can only buy them with credit/debit card, PayPal, and traceable cryptocurrencies (no Monero). That means none of these methods are anonymous and could be traced to your account.