[lxst]

Please read the cited FAQ entry again:

> On the other hand, own domains need to be registered to the name and address of a person. If you were able to use own domains with us, this would affect the entire concept of Posteo: we would need to start saving user information for all customers who use their own domains with us – and to provide these to the Federal Network Agency to be provided on request to the authorities.

[detaro]

That sort-of makes sense for why they do not offer you domains, but not why they do not have a "bring your own domain" plan (like e.g. mailbox does). There somewhere being a registrar knowing who I am doesn't change what they have to do, they do not need to have or look at that data in any way.

[timvdalen]

I think they're arguing that, if you bring your own domain, they still know what domain they're storing email for (by checking the reverse lookup) and they could look up the name behind it in the registry.

They don't want to be put in the position where they know what natural person a certain email belongs to.

[detaro]

They could also put the e-mail address in Google and find out who I am...

I get and respect that they want to provide a way to use their service without identifying yourself, but stopping a customer from voluntarily identifying themselves is fairly futile, and counter to how many people intend to use e-mail. (Indeed, they offer payment by bank transfer or paypal, so clearly they do not insist on full privacy)

Well, luckily they have direct competitors that offer the full range, so while I'd love more players in this segment I'm not directly affected by them not wanting such customers (and I find the argument questionable enough to reconsider recommending them in the future)

[newscracker]

Even the payments part is addressed in the FAQ link I shared previously [1] and in a separate page about payments. [2]

While I'm sure that we would have to take certain things with a pinch of salt, since Germany is a Fourteen Eyes country, for me this amount of attention is something I haven't seen elsewhere (and not at this price). As I mentioned above, the social responsibility and other factors also heavily influenced me when I did the switch to Posteo.

From the FAQ: [1]

> "How can Posteo be anonymous, when I’m paying by bank transfer or PayPal?

> Credit is always added to your Posteo account anonymously – regardless of whether you pay by bank transfer, PayPal, credit card or in cash. We do not attach the data we receive with payments to the email accounts. We developed our own system for this in 2009, with which all payment processes are anonymised.

> The payment system is the core of our concept of data reduction, above all, because we keep payment information strictly separate from our customers' email accounts, we do not attach any user information to the accounts – and can thereby ensure the fundamentally anonymous use of our email service. You can find out in detail how the anonymisation of payment processes occurs at Posteo on our payment info page."

[1]: https://posteo.de/en/site/faq

[2]: https://posteo.de/en/site/payment

[nicky0]

The point is, it's their company and they get to decide their features, not you. They don't owe you any kind of explanation.

[detaro]

Of course it's their right to decide the features. Just as it is my right to talk about how their given reasons for their decisions don't seem to make sense and let that influence my view of the company. Which is all we're doing here: talking about the companies to inform each other.

[scrollaway]

What on earth gives you the impression it's appropriate for you to prevent other users from wanting a company to have/build certain features?

It's neither the user's wish, nor the company as the company most certainly wants user feedback. Your post quite literally is only there to satisfy yourself.

[nicky0]

Touched a nerve did I? Sorry to puncture your sense of entitlement.

[Tomte]

No, they can't. If I wanted to protect my privacy I'd use a service like RespectMyPrivacy that hides my name.

Just as a rhetorical question: do they decline local parts in the form of firstname.lastname? Thought so.

[newscracker]

Not sure I got what your rhetorical question is about. You don't have to provide any first name or last name or a real name. I've also linked to the FAQ and the payments explanation in another comment above, which go into more detail about what information they avoid collecting, storing and processing.