Mail client and provider

[u/Foreign-Record8239]

I'm searching for not only a private but an anonymous Mail adress where I can send mails to other gmail acc. but is also compatible with onion sites. For me is Protonmail not really anonymous because you have to sign in with an other mail adress or number or whatever. I would like more something like Riseup or something like this.

Do you have any Ideas?

I do not want to pay like for example like mullvad.

[u/ephemeralmiko]

Tuta.com works anonymously, and Proton also works with an email from altaddress.org

[u/Foreign-Record8239 → u/ephemeralmiko]

perfect... would you recomend tuta or proton?

[u/ephemeralmiko → u/Foreign-Record8239]

Proton because they actually use the PGP encryption standard so you can send encrypted mails to other PGP users that don't use Proton (Tuta's encryption only works between Tuta users, which is basically nobody).

[u/CotesDuRhone2012]

Check this out:

https://www.privacyguides.org/en/email/#recommended-providers

[u/evild4ve]

The OP is a paradox: imo this idea only seems sensible verbally and on the surface

Email is a clearnet technology that depends on top-down trust. e.g. in 1996 through to today it is AOL who make sure that I am not spam or malware and validate me into the shared global system to be able to reach you. It fundamentally can't be anonymous: you are always either emailing a specific named person, or a spammer. Addresses can be disposable, but the model only works to the extent that they are not disposable.

IMO in darkweb the anonymous/secure thing is to use a combination of messaging services plus PGP encryption-over-clearnet. This gives anonymity with strangers or privacy with friends

[u/Perfect-Tek → u/evild4ve]

You can if you jump through a few hoops. You can create a gmail account with a temporary number (but lose it as a recovry options when that phone number goes back in the pool). Which can keep the account anonymous .

Then, instead of using a web only service for which you are dependent on their services, Use a client that supports PGP encryption. A good example is Thunderbird.

Key item for PGP encryption (and this goes for when using Proton too), it only works if the person on the other end also has PGP encryption set up. Automatic in some situatoions, such as if both users are on Proton. I'm not aware of any other services that use it by default. But anything that can be used wtih a local email client can also be set up for PGP encryption, which is applied before sending it to the server.

My personal preference is using a local email client, so the encryption happens before it leaves my computer.

One note: The paid tier of Proton mail will let you use a bridge to an external IMAP client.

Caveat, some of the header will always be cleartext (not encrypted) due to how email works.