Nowadays, we use our email address for everything, from simple messages between family members or colleagues to important data containing bank accounts, personal information and so forth. Considering that earlier this year the US National Security Agency (NSA) was caught snooping around on millions of Americans through telecommunications networks and massive data, more and more people are searching for non-US based email providers and phone calls.
The American agency was allegedly helped by major companies, like Google, Yahoo, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Skype and others, because they have their servers situated in USA. Due to the lack of strong privacy laws, it is said that every data that is collected and stored on a server from USA can be used by government agencies, including FBI, CIA and DEA.
The situation is so worse, that encrypted email service provider Lavabit, the one which was used by Edward Snowden to leak NSA documents, shut down abruptly. That’s why, more and more people are searching for alternatives outside USA with stronger and clearer laws regarding security and data privacy. In order to come into your help we made the following with the best non-US email providers.
Non-US Based Email Providers
After the news spread out, people started searching for other email providers from countries which have better and stronger laws regarding data security. It was reported that their searches stopped with the German providers thanks to the rigorous laws from Germany and to the fact that they are known as being among the strictest countries with regards to privacy in the world.
Many of the solutions had their numbers increased with even two figures and besides the German providers, many other countries reported an increase in new users over the last months.
Countermail
Countermail is an email service based in Sweden which offers one of the best and secure solutions when it’s about of email providers. Millions of emails are sent daily without any encryption and they are stored on different servers until they get to their destination, but with this service you can be sure that every email is protected with a protocol called OpenPGP which uses 2048 bits encryption keys.
Everything is done automatically and transparently, in fact if you are accustomed with Gmail’s or Yahoo’s simple usage you can be sure that this email service will not cause problems. Besides the classical interface and workaround it has some unique and awesome features, like diskless web servers, Android mobile devices compatibility, IMAP server and more.
The best thing about this service is that its servers are not equipped with hard drives so that in case of a leak or attack, the perpetrators will find nothing. The only messages that are stored on their servers are the ones that are already encrypted. Another excellent feature is the USB Key option which allows users logging in their email account only when the USB key is inserted into the USB-port.
The standard email account offers only 250 MB of storage, but extra space can be bought for a certain sum of money. For example for another 500 MB they will have to pay $49. The bad thing is that it hasn’t got a free account, but when you weigh up the pros and cons, you will see that $59 yearly is not too much.
Neomailbox
Neomailbox is one of the best solutions to protect yourself and your family from online privacy invasion or even from identity theft. This service strengthens your email and web browsing from over 10 years and has all of its servers situated in Netherlands and Switzerland. These two countries have ones of the most strict privacy laws regarding email messages stored on servers.
The secure email has a high strength SSL encryption, can be globally accessed via IMAP, SMTP, POP3, Webmail, offers RSS feeds via email, has OpenPGP encryption and more. It’s available in over 30 languages so that people all around the world can used it in their own language. Also, its interface can be changed between four different choices: Dynamic which is similar to a desktop email program, Traditional, HTML based interface and Mobile interface.
If you need disposable aliases too, it’s not a problem for Neomailbox because it offers an unlimited number of email addresses with a unique subdomain. Another thing that may interest you is the fact that the email is compatible with your favorite email client, such as Thunderbird, Opera Mail, Eudora, Outlook or any POP3 / IMAP compatible email program.
The service is available in three different account types depending on the amount of storage, so for a 1 GB of you will have to pay $49.95 yearly, for a 5 GB $79.95 and for 10 GB $109.95.
Runbox
Runbox is a powerful and secure email provider which has its servers situated in Norway, a country that has strong constitutional amendments that guarantee secrecy of correspondence. Along with this big advantage and having up to 15 GB of storage, makes this service one of the best when it’s about of security and privacy that somebody can find on the market.
Also, this service permits users to consolidate all their external emails in one place synchronizing them automatically and sorting them into different folders. While Google or Yahoo analyze all your emails in order to show related ads in your browser, this service is absolutely ad-free.
A big advantage besides the other competitors is that Runbox offers fully support 24 hours a day for all 7 days of the week. In addition, the email is accessible through POP3, IMAP and SMTP directly from an email client (Thunderbird, Apple Mail, Opera Mail etc.) or from an Android phone (read this simple guide to know to set it up).
The email service is available in four account types: Micro which has 1 GB storage and costs $19.95 yearly, Mini with 5 GB for $34.95, Medium with 10 GB for $49.95 and Max with 15 GB for $79.95. Furthermore, they permit extra upgrades, like 1 GB of extra storage for $14.95 or 5 email aliases for $4.75.
If you’re seriously thinking of using this service, hurry up because they have an awesome offer: two years for the price of one.
Safe-mail
Safe-mail is an email providing service which puts the security and integrity of its users first in their priorities. It has a strong encryption algorithm which is used to automatically encrypt emails during storage in order to ensure the highest level of privacy and protection. The service is accessible from all around the world at any time directly through the browser or via POP3, SMTP, IMAP, S/MIME and PKI protocols.
Also, it’s available in 8 languages, offers a nice scheduler feature which enables schedulers to be securely synchronized, address book which can be exported after an encryption process and imported to another Safe-mail account and many others.
The real setback of it is that it offers only 3 MB of free storage, extra space being added when you buy a premium account. All in all, it has seven types of storage upgrades, from only 75 MB ($25 yearly) of extra space to 5 GB ($400 per year).
Vmail
You should also take a look at Vmail which is an email provider with servers in France and web domain from Montenegro. The good thing is that it has a 500 MB storage free account type which has a spam protection and a friendly interface with no ads.
Other email providers with non-US servers that you can take a look are:
E-mail Made in Germany is an initiative of the Germans against the NSA scandal through which they offer a more secure place on Internet for your personal emails. Basically, all the messages that are sent between the three big local email providers, GMX, Web.de and T-Online will never leave the boundaries of Germany.
Swiss Mail offers a free trial period where users can put to a test their services and after, they will have to pay $92 per year for a professional account with 1 GB of storage.
E-mail.ph is the biggest email provider from Philippines and offers 1 GB of free storage that can be extended by up to 5 GB.
MuteMail has great security and privacy controls and all of their servers are situated in offshore locations ($69.95 for one year subscription).
Inbox has servers in Latvia and offers a free account with a storage of 20 GB, Anti-Virus and Anti-Spam filters and even a free SMS notification for when you are not nearby your computer.
CryptoHeaven is considered to be one of the premier email providers and online storage. It has a great amount of features, like unlimited size of attachments, free desktop software and web interface, capabilities to set expiry dates for messages and more. It has all its servers in Dominica and for a 1 GB storage account type you will have to pay $119 per year.
Rediff is an Indian company that offers a wide range of services between we can find email provider services. It is available as a free account type, but it also has a paid account which permits users to select their own unique domain for the email address and more.
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