[llmblockchain]

It depends on your threat model. If your threat includes three letter agencies and nation states then you're right-- don't use Proton. However, 99.9% of people don't have that threat model. In that case, Proton is better than most other providers out there (for email, vpn, etc).

[jtriangle]

I would hazard to say if that's your threat model, you're better off not using the internet in general. VPN provider won't really matter ultimately, there's a hundred things on either side of that tunnel that you have to take care of.

[llmblockchain]

I'd argue physical channels and access are even less secure. People are broken easily (you can't trust anyone) and surveillance is everywhere and more sophisticated than you imagine. My first job was at a US-based video surveillance company owned by Israelis and used by casinos, stadiums, and entire cities. I have an idea of what it's capable of :)

What we need is a truly secure and private method of communication and payment. We're close on both.

[jtriangle]

The methodology is simple enough, the issue is the devices.

Sure you can run hardened, stateless linux, but how many SOC's are in your laptop? Those aren't trustable. Your phone's even worse.

Sure meatspace is full of surveillance gear, and has been for years. Face rec/id has been around for a decade longer than people think, plate readers, traffic cams basically everywhere, etc etc. The problem those systems all have is filtering out the signal from the noise. They don't know that person-X is someone to watch until they're tagged. Once they're tagged, it's basically over, but, how do you tag them? Right now, that's mostly manual, and based on external data. If there is no external data, there's no risk of being tagged.

The real question is, can someone remain normal enough while not generating suspicion while they're up to no good. I'd say they certainly can, most don't, but, it's far from an impossibility.