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Comment by kode95 | Hacker News Reader

> As will all LLMs eventually

Proton has made an AI chatbot with an extreme focus on privacy: https://lumo.proton.me

Proton had a sale and I wanted to try their services out, but they would not let me register while on Mullvad's VPN. Their support said to not use a VPN when registering.

I personally do not trust Proton.

This seems like a bit of a silly reason to not trust a company. There's a small mountain of companies that won't let you register if you're behind a VPN, or using a less-common e-mail provider (ie: protonmail).

It's annoying but it's a bog standard technique for avoiding spam or fraud.

I can buy expensive things to have delivered to a vacant house and run off in the night if I used a stolen credit card on a VPN, but a cheap digital service that can be cut off at anytime if there's fraud, can't handle a VPN.

> This seems like a bit of a silly reason to not trust a company.

A self-professed privacy-focused company that won't let privacy-conscious customers sign up does look a little sus.

Is there perhaps some type of KYC law where they operate? Either way I would think it would be best to explain right there on the page, why they can't do it.

I think if they told their customers they had to do KYC, they would lose a lot of customers.

AFAIK you can register on a VPN, or even Tor, if you sign up with a paid plan, but you cannot sign up a free account without revealing your identity in some way.

They do accept Bitcoin payment, but not Monero. I wonder if that's because Monero is illegal for them, or just because they didn't bother to.

I was trying to pay for a plan (via credit card). They had a sale going on and I figured I would give them a try.

Easier to track people via Bitcoin than Monero?

Correct.

There's a reason the EU made it illegal for businesses to deal in Monero.

The AMLR is not set to take effect until July 1, 2027, assuming the regulation doesn't change before then.

> you cannot sign up a free account without revealing your identity in some way.

AFAIK it's perfectly possible to sign up for a free Proton account without revealing your identity.

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