The moment I stopped ignoring it
For years I was a fully embedded Apple and Google user. iCloud for photos, Google Drive for documents, Gmail as my primary inbox, Google Maps saving everywhere I went. It was convenient, seamless, and I told myself it was fine because I had nothing to hide.
Then I started paying closer attention — not to conspiracy theories, but to what these services actually do with your data by default. Google scans your Gmail to improve ad targeting. Apple's iCloud backups, unless you enable Advanced Data Protection, are accessible to Apple and therefore to lawful requests. Every photo you take, every document you write, every calendar event — all of it sitting on someone else's server, on someone else's terms.
"Arguing that you don't care about privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different from saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." — Edward Snowden
I'm not a journalist, activist, or someone with state-level threat concerns. I'm an IT professional in Malta who works with operational systems and data every day. And precisely because I understand how data works, I couldn't keep pretending the convenience was worth the trade-off.
What I moved away from
The migration wasn't just about email. The full list of services I replaced:
- Gmail → Proton Mail
- Google Calendar → Proton Calendar
- Google Drive → Proton Drive
- Google Contacts / iCloud Contacts → Proton Contacts
- 1Password / iCloud Keychain → Proton Pass
Each of these replacements exists within the Proton ecosystem — built by a team founded at CERN, headquartered in Switzerland (one of the strongest privacy jurisdictions in the world), and open-source audited. End-to-end encryption is the default, not an opt-in.
The migration process
I want to be honest: it took a weekend of focused effort. It was not instant. But it was not as painful as I had feared.
Proton Mail supports importing from Gmail directly via their Import Assistant. It pulled in my existing emails and preserved folder structure. The new address took some getting used to, but within a few weeks I had updated all important accounts. I kept the Gmail address alive for two months as a redirect, then let it go.
Use Proton Mail's "SimpleLogin" integration — a built-in alias generator that lets you sign up for services with unique, disposable addresses. Your real address is never exposed, and you can kill individual aliases if they get spammed.
Calendar
Proton Calendar syncs natively on iOS and Android. I exported my Google Calendar as an .ics file and imported it directly. Events, recurring rules, and reminders all came across cleanly. The iOS native calendar app can display Proton Calendar events via CalDAV — though I now use the dedicated Proton Calendar app instead.
Drive & Documents
This was the most manual step. I downloaded everything from Google Drive in batches and re-uploaded to Proton Drive. For actively used documents I now use Proton Docs — still maturing as a product, but capable enough for my personal writing and notes. For heavy collaborative work I use local files with selective sync.
Passwords
Proton Pass is a full-featured password manager with browser extensions and a polished iOS app. I exported from 1Password, imported into Proton Pass, and the switch was seamless. Proton Pass stores not just passwords but notes, credit cards, and 2FA codes — all end-to-end encrypted.
Living with Proton day-to-day
Six months in, I can say it has changed nothing about my workflow and everything about my peace of mind. The apps are polished and reliable. Proton Mail on iOS handles Push notifications correctly. Proton Drive syncs in the background without issues. The calendar is fast.
Proton offers a single subscription — Proton Unlimited — that covers Mail, Calendar, Drive, VPN, and Pass together. It costs less than a single Netflix subscription. For what you get in terms of storage, privacy, and peace of mind, it is one of the best value propositions in tech.
The only real adjustment is accepting that some things are slightly less frictionless. Sharing a Proton Drive folder with someone who uses Google Drive requires them to visit a link, not open a native file. The trade-off is worth it, but it's honest to name it.
The bigger picture
Privacy is not a technical problem. It's a values problem. The question is not whether you have something to hide — it's whether you believe you should have the right to control your own data, communications, and digital life without handing that control to corporations whose business model depends on extracting value from your behaviour.
Proton is not perfect. No service is. But they are building in the right direction, with the right incentives, in the right jurisdiction. Moving to Proton was the most significant step I've taken toward owning my digital life — and I have not looked back.
If you're considering it, start with just the email. Give it three months. The rest follows naturally.