ProtonMail will not delete user accounts due to inactivity if the user had a premium plan at some point
Earlier this month, ProtonMail announced a new email domain for its services. The announcement mentioned something important, it said that free user accounts that were inactive for 12 months would be deactivated.
Note: The original ProtonMail article has been edited and the warning about inactive accounts has been quietly removed.
Why is Proton AG doing this?
To users, it may seem like a meaningless move. Perhaps ProtonMail is getting more free users than they expected, which in turn costs server storage. I think it is also possible that more people will sign up to use the free VPN service provided by the company. We must not forget that Proton AG makes money from its premium services, so in theory this move could be executed solely from a business perspective.
Proton AG originally planned to deactivate accounts that were inactive for three months, but says it extended the grace period to 1 year, after listening to user feedback A three-month limit would have caused a lot of user complaints, I think they took the correct decision by avoiding that landmine.
Does it matter if an inactive account is deleted?
If a user hasn’t accessed their account for over a year, isn’t that account irrelevant? Does it matter if it is deleted? If it does. Users may not remember it, but they may have some receipts, tax bills, photos or important documents stored in their email account. This may be crucial data that cannot be recovered once the account is deactivated.
ProtonMail announces a way to prevent inactive accounts from being deactivated
ProtonMail has posted a support page on their website that explains more about the inactive account policy. All you need to do to protect your account is log in from your web browser or mobile app once a year. Or you could also use the VPN app, as activity between services is also counted.
This is the most important information on the support page,
“If you are or have been a paid Proton subscriber at any time, your account will be considered permanently active. Anyone who has ever paid for a Proton plan is exempt from this policy.”
So you don’t need to have an active Premium subscription, you just need to have paid for a plan at least once. That’s intriguing, you could pay for a month’s subscription of ProtonMail Plus, which currently costs $5 or €5, to preserve the account forever. That’s a small price to pay to protect your data. I think it’s better than not having a way to secure the account.
If you decide to purchase a subscription, sign in to your account and click the Upgrade button in the top right corner. Select the plan you want, if you are only interested in the one month subscription to Premium Plus, click on it.
A popup will open, it has a couple of dropdown menus at the top right. Click on the first menu to change the subscription from Yearly to one month. The next menu allows you to choose the currency in which you want to pay. Proton AG supports three currencies: Euros €, US Dollars $ and Swiss Francs (CHF). Choose the one that is convenient for you, confirm the total amount to be paid, before proceeding to the payment. Just to be safe, you may want to set a reminder on your calendar to prevent service from automatically renewing.
Can someone else claim my email address after it has been deactivated?
No, Proton has confirmed that a deactivated email address is permanently lost. No one, including you, will be able to use the ID if it has been removed. This is to ensure that no 2 people have the same @protonmail.com email address and @proton.me alias. This means that identity theft will not be a problem.
When does the new account inactivity rule take effect?
ProtonMail will start applying the rule from April 30, 2022.
Tip: If you haven’t already, you can claim a free @Proton.me email address through April 30.
Do you use ProtonMail regularly? If not, are you going to buy a one-time subscription to avoid account deletion?
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