Three secure email providers for more privacy

Free email providers have been under massive pressure since the NSA affair: they cannot guarantee secure message transmission. However, there are smaller providers who anonymize electronic mail again for little money. We show you three providers that protect your privacy.

aikQ - You decide which data the email provider receives

With the email provider aikQ you can set up a secure mail cockpit: You can easily take your previous addresses - for example from Google Mail - with you and manage them via aikQ. The provider gives you a pleasant promise: "All data that you give us is given to us voluntarily. Nevertheless, we do not give anything further and keep everything you let us know under lock and key."

• aikQ sends all your mails with SSL or TLS encryption. By default, a level two 256-bit SSI certificate is used. This is safer than some online banking.
• You can easily register with aikQ under a pseudonym. Nobody checks your data or is interested in your contacts. The servers only save the date and time when logging in, nothing else.
• Of course, it is easily possible to integrate your mailbox into mail clients such as Outlook or Thunderbird. You can even access your messages on the go on the aikQ mobile site.
• aikQ costs one euro per month. You can use additional email addresses under up to ten aliases and receive a monthly cancelable mailbox with 10 GB of storage space. In addition, your account is completely ad-free and spam-protected.
• You can pay your account via PayPal, bank transfer or letter. The latter is completely anonymous, since you do not have to enter your email address or the correct address - money and the order number are sufficient.
• The free trial period at aikQ is practical: You can use many of the provider's functions for 30 days and then decide. Simply log in here with the address " " and the password "demo".

Posteo - the sustainable email provider for more privacy

The Berlin mail provider Posteo got a lot of attention, especially after the NSA affair. The provider's servers are powered by 100 percent renewable energies and all financial transactions run through green environmental banks. Posteo also offers the user maximum security:

• At Posteo, your emails are also encrypted with SSL certificates and Berliners go one step further: With Perfect Forward Secrecy, every data traffic receives a new key.
• Similar to aikQ, you can also register with Posteo using a pseudonym. Personal data is not necessary.
• Posteo creates backups of your data and stores them for seven days. You can also save all data locally on your PC and then delete it at Posteo. The decision is yours.
• At Posteo you can also integrate your address in mail clients. Access via mobile devices is possible without any problems.
• The mail provider also offers you a calendar function: You can integrate up to five external calendar feeds into your mail account or create your own appointment planner at Posteo. It can even be encrypted with AES so that only you can access it.
• At Posteo you can get a mailbox that can be canceled monthly with 2 GB of memory and two alias addresses for one euro. You can upgrade both: 20 GB of storage space and alias addresses are possible. You pay ten cents per alias, while an additional gigabyte costs 25 cents per month. This provider is also free of advertising and spam.
• Payment is also made anonymously at Posteo: in addition to bank transfer and PayPal, you can also pay in cash by post. A payment code is sufficient in all three cases. In addition, the employees at the green mail provider are contractually obliged to maintain confidentiality. Every incoming letter is shredded after payment.

JP-Berlin - the traditional email provider can do more

The hoster JPBerlin has been around for 25 years. In addition to secure email traffic, the provider also specializes in web content.

• JPBerlin has set itself the goal of ensuring anonymity for politically motivated users in particular: Your data is securely encrypted using SSL / TLS and Perfect Forward Secrecy.
• Unfortunately you have to provide your name and address at JPBerlin. On the FAQ page, however, JPBerlin gives you tips on how to best protect your electronic mail.
• For one euro a month you can get a mailbox with 1 GB of storage space at JPBerlin. Optionally, you can add more storage space.
• JPBerlin specializes in political groups. Therefore, the provider offers you more than just email addresses: for example, you can claim your own domain. It is also possible to set up mailing lists or host secure websites directly.
• The Berlin mail provider recommends mail access via the free Client Roundcube.

Free insider tips: Autistici and RiseUp

In addition to aikQ, posteo and JPBerlin, there are other initiatives that promote more data security and anonymity online. The politically motivated providers Autistici and RiseUp even provide free accounts for secure e-mail traffic.

• RiseUp is an organization dedicated to the establishment of a liberal, democratic society without surveillance and arbitrary state. For this, the activists provide mailboxes with TLS encryption. To register, all you have to do is enter a user name and password - all other information is optional. Once you have opened an account, you can create several additional aliases. In addition, RiseUp promises not to save your IP address or to pass it on to third parties and not to create any log files.
• Autistici also follows a similar principle: The left-hand online activist group takes the view that privacy, anonymity and communication must be freely accessible, and in addition to web hosting and chat rooms, it also provides mail accounts. All you need to register is an additional email address. Similar to the other secure mail providers, Autistici does not save any log files or IP addresses, advertises with secure SSL encryption, multiple mail aliases and does not place any advertising. However, in order to prevent abuse, the organization chooses its customers very carefully: To register for a mailbox, you must first briefly describe your motives. Autistici does not offer its services to large parties, religious organizations or commercial companies.
• Note: Since neither Autistici nor RiseUp charge any fees for their mail accounts, both organizations rely on donations. Misuse of these offers can quickly lead to providers no longer covering their costs and being unable to provide secure mailboxes.

Manage e-mails securely on the go

If you have now protected your mail traffic against unauthorized access, you should also take a look at your cell phone. If you cannot use the same technology there, your emails will remain unsafe there.

$config[ads_text5] not found

• P≡p offers a solution to the problem. The app encrypts all your connections, no matter whether emails or WhatsApp chats. The application is currently only available for Android and costs a one-time fee of 59 cents.

More about data protection & privacy: Anonymous and secure on the Internet

On 46 pages you will learn how to properly encrypt files on PC and in the cloud and to protect your privacy. In selected articles from the CHIP archive, we show how you can lock out data collectors and snoopers, how you can leave as few traces on the Internet as possible and how you give Google a private mode.

$config[ads_text6] not found

• Go to the CHIP kiosk and get the exclusive CHIP guide "Anonymous & secure on the Internet" for 5.49 euros. Then download the PDF and get started right away.
• From simple instructions for beginners to professional tips, such as how to encrypt your Dropbox with OpenPGP, there is something for everyone.

Switching to a secure mailbox is quick and easy. We'll show you how to switch from Googlemail to Posteo, for example.