Proton: Inactive Accounts
proton.me
proton.me
The OP says nobody will be able to claim my email, which is great, but what if I want to reclaim my own email? It’s just permanently inaccessible?
Luckily I use a password manager so I can easily check which Proton emails I need to log into. I’ll remember to do that this year, but maybe not next year… perhaps 1Password could add a feature to help with this, listing passwords using Proton emails where you haven’t accessed them in some time.
Relatedly, Google Voice does a similar thing and I need to send myself a text every six months to avoid losing the number I use for 2FA on a bunch of services.
But offering free email addresses that are used (just by logging in once a year) is sustainable? This point doesn’t make sense to me. It could be reworded to state the real intent.
The biggest drawback of ProtonMail and similar services (such as Tuta/Tutanota) is that you can’t get your mails out and move to another service if you’re on a free plan. With Proton, if you pay, you can use the IMAP bridge application to download emails.
they have to define inactive somehow and 1 year is as good a definition as anything.
Now, as with other services, those people will look for recent activity breadcrumbs to use as lampposts to determine de-activity.
Even if in this certain instance, Proton won't remake them available, the idea is the same.
I used to use my Proton account a decent amount, but for the last several years I haven't needed it, and it's been sitting there unused. I'll probably let it lapse and be deactivated.