Which are the most secure email services for 2022?

Which are the most secure email providers in 2022? Worst email providers 2022

You may be tired of the constant privacy intrusions that Gmail causes, and want to know how you can de-Google Gmail without switching to an insecure email service.

This blog will identify the most secure email providers so you know which ones to steer clear of and how to subscribe to one that protects your data. Email security and privacy are first .

Why are email providers so insecureˀ

When it comes to top-of-the-line data security and privacy, you often pay what you get. For example, free services are often funded by revenue from users´ data.

Email providers should have privacy policies that allow the company access to your email. This could lead to your email being used for marketing purposes by automated search algorithms for keywords.

It is also possible for government agents to access your email via warrant if an email service provider doesn´t provide client-side encryption by default. The company could also be responsible for data breaches and mismanagement.

Cybercriminals could also breach emails by stealing keys to server-side encryption from email providers.

Which email service providers are least secureˀ

This section will identify common email service providers known to mishandle user data security and privacy. These free services are used by many people. We believe it safer to move to an email service that protects your privacy. We recommend you avoid the following email providersǃ

Yahoo Mail

Yahoo Mail may be the insecure and most controversial email provider. Yahoo´s reputation suffered a serious blow when it became known that Yahoo Mail had given government spy agencies backdoor access into hundreds of millions user accounts.

Yahoo gave the government a tool to allow the NSA to access those accounts. This purposely designed tool could be used to bypass Yahoo Mail accounts en masse. This tool was used to scan all inbound emails looking for keywords or information from US intelligence officers.

Yahoo is still a free service that can access all email accounts. It can therefore theoretically gain access to any email at any moment. Even worse is that these emails can be accessed by hackers because of the server-side encryption implemented by the company.

Notable is the fact that Yahoo Mail became part of Verizon Media´s 2017 service. This means that you will need to agree to Verizon Media´s Terms and Conditions to use Yahoo Mail.

Verizon Media claims that it will track its users using "device IDs", cookies and other signals. Yahoo Mail is a privacy-invading and highly secure email service. Here is what Verizon Media´s privacy policy says about the treatment of private email messages.

Verizon Media stores and analyzes all communication content including emails from outgoing and incoming mail. We can then deliver, personalize, and develop the most relevant content, services, and advertising.

AOL Mail

AOL Mail, another mail provider that can be considered dangerous for data security and privacy is AOL Mail. After Yahoo acquired the company, Verizon Media purchased AOL Mail in 2017.

AOL Mail users must accept the terms and conditions of Verizon Media´s privacy policies. The company has full access and control over all incoming and outgoing email. This means you agree to allow the company to access your entire mailbox.

Privacy policies also state that large amounts of personal information are collected by the company to identify user interests and track their habits.

These include "device-specific identifiers" and other information, such as IP address , cookie information Mobile device and advertising identifiers. Browser version. Operating system type. Version. Mobil network information. Device settings. Software data.

The company also reminds you that your device may be "recognised" by the company to offer you personalized experiences and advertise "across all devices".

You can easily see that this email service is not secure when you consider the server-side security risks and potential data leakages and breaches. In a billion-dollar deal, Verizon Media agreed to sell AOL Mail and Yahoo Mail to Apollo. These changes could result in further modifications to the policies and ToS of both email services.

Gmail

Google already has vast quantities of information about its users. Google has an enormous amount of information on people that it can use to determine their interests and patterns.

These data are collected whenever you search Google or use the popular Chrome browser to browse the internet. This data can also be collected from Android phones using Google Services. You will soon understand the reasons why Google has so many information on consumers.

A Gmail account increases the amount of surveillance the company is able to engage in. Google scans email contents and subjects. The firm stopped scanning emails in 2017 for marketing purposes, however. It scans email subject lines and allows third-parties to view email information.

Even though Google claims to have stopped scanning email for marketing purposes automatically, it admitted that they were still doing so. still allowing Third parties can access the user´s inboxes. These third parties can access user inboxes and spy on sender, recipient, time of email sending, as well as the content.

It is important to keep in mind that Google has complete control over your email account. This means Google can access your email if necessary.

Google, admittedly, is an organization that works hard at preventing unauthorized access of email accounts. Google is now requiring users who have a linked device set up two-factor authentication and has robust measures to detect suspicious activity.

It is important to remember that hackers could steal your keys from your email vault if a company controls them all. The government might issue a gag order and warrant to the company, requiring it to give access to the emails of people.

Outlook

Outlook is Microsoft´s email service. Although it´s not as intrusive as other services in the guide, Outlook can still be considered secure.

It shouldn´t be surprising, given that Microsoft has a reputation for high-level surveillance capitalism. This is primarily because it collects large amounts of Telemetry through the Windows Operating System.

Microsoft says that this is true, however, they do not believe it.OutlookMicrosoft´s.com personal email service is free and doesn´t scan any of your emails to serve you advertisements.

It is definitely better than other free email services. It is worth noting that Microsoft retains the rights to access your email vault. Microsoft is an American-based company, so it could be subject to gag orders and warrants that require it to reveal all data on its servers.

It can still search for your email content if it wishes. Although it says it won´t use it for advertising purposes, the lack of encryption on its client side means it has access to them.

Microsoft may also be subject to a cyberattack, where the encryption key for your email vault could be stolen from its servers. Hackers could gain access to your email accounts.

 Apple Mail

Apple Mail is an email service which is more private than other providers. Apple doesn´t use user emails for marketing purposes, for example. Apple does have access to user emails but it can scan them to enhance its software services.

Despite this, Apple has been criticised for failing to acknowledge and address the seriousness of vulnerabilities in iOS Mail and Apple Mail and its inability to respond quickly to them. Security experts are concerned about Apple´s ability secure email accounts should further exploits become known.

Two serious security holes were recently discovered by ZecOps (a San Francisco-based mobile security firm), in iOS Mail. These vulnerabilities could have enabled hackers to gain access to users´ email accounts. ZedOps also claims that the Apple Mail App vulnerability has been exploited by at least six hackers in the wild.

Apple´s platform is completely closed-source, which means that it cannot make any claims regarding privacy. However, the company can claim it has privacy policies, but it cannot know how it uses people´s data. Apple´s management of people´s data and accounts is therefore a matter of trust.

It is concerning because, despite Apple´s claim to respect consumer privacy in its products and services, it still has inconsistent policies and fails to protect its ecosystem from apps that use the Apple Store to track users. This could be done if Apple wanted, as it retains full control of what goes into the Apple store. It raises grave questions about its motivations.

Are you ready to switch to an encrypted and private email providerˀ

This question almost always answers "Yesǃ" Major corporations offer email services for free, but they have dubious terms of service and privacy policies which can pose a threat to users´ privacy.

These companies offer free email services because they need to have access to the emails for marketing, research and development purposes. It is important to understand that if a service offers a free option, it is likely because you have paid for the data.

Anyone who wants to have more email security, including access to encrypted email that can´t be accessed by anyone is advised to switch to an email service provider that has strong privacy policies. They will not scan your emails and provide PGP in their applications to allow you to send secure emails with encryption.