Proton Drive offers end-to-end encryption and all the benefits of the Proton ecosystem.
Proton Drive has been in beta testing since 2020, during which time it has gathered close to 500,000 testers, with upload volume tripling in the most recent quarter. It is a component of Proton’s suite of applications, which also includes Proton Mail, Proton VPN, and Proton Calendar. In essence, the company seeks to create an open-source, privacy-focused substitute for key Google services.
Switzerland, home to Proton, is a country with some of the strictest privacy regulations in the world. With cryptographic signatures on all files and folders, Proton Drive and other Proton services encrypt all of the data you store with end-to-end encryption. Additionally, the business makes its services open source so that anyone can examine how effective its privacy protections are in practice.
Proton has finally released Proton Drive following several months of beta testing.
It is a cloud storage service that uses end-to-end encryption and strives to give users high levels of security.
This launch occurs shortly after ProtonMail underwent a rebranding process and established itself as a privacy ecosystem.
Proton Drive wants to be your Google Drive alternative with privacy built-in
For cloud storage, Google Drive is likely the de facto industry standard used by many Android and Google account users. You might want to think about switching to a more privacy-conscious service, though, given that there have been reports of Google mistakenly locking out users from their accounts and the fact that the company makes most of its money from personalized ads. The open-source alternative Proton Drive, the newest service offered by the privacy firm Proton, best known for Proton VPN and Proton Mail, hopes to fill that gap.
Now that Proton Drive is fully operational, anyone can access it by logging into their Proton account; no additional opt-ins are necessary.
With Proton Drive, your files are accessible 24/7 from any device and secured with automatic backups. Your data remains safe even if you lose your phone or computer.
However, end-to-end encryption means that unlike other cloud storage solutions, you don’t have to share your most intimate files with a third party. Unlike Big Tech, Proton can’t access your files. Your data remains fully owned and controlled by you.
In case you’re interested, Proton Drive’s code is also entirely open-source, uses open standards, and has undergone an audit by outside security professionals.
Let’s take a look at some of the key features of Proton Drive.
Encryption
The encryption model used by Proton Drive is very similar to that of the Proton Calendar; to protect user files, it uses the OpenPGP standard and the ECC Curve25519 algorithm.
To stop any malicious actor from secretly uploading files to a user’s drive, cryptographic uploader verification is in place.
Simple terms, end-to-end encryption protects your files so that not even Proton staff members can access them.
Privacy
Because of its Swiss location, Proton is able to take advantage of the country’s stringent data protection regulations by offering Proton Drive, a product that puts privacy first.
This is expected. Therefore, you might want to switch from other services like OneDrive/Google Drive to Proton Drive if you prefer Swiss-based services for stronger privacy protection.
File Sharing
You can share your files with others in a very secure manner using Proton Drive.
All shared files are protected with end-to-end encryption, ensuring that only the sender and the designated recipient have access to the file.
To further strengthen the security of their shared files, users can choose to set a password and an expiration date.
Proton Drive offers 1GB with free version
With 1GB of total storage across Mail and Calendar, Proton Drive and the rest of the Proton suite are free to use in their most basic form.
Depending on your needs, there are different tiers that range from the $4/month Drive Plus version with 200GB of storage to the $10 Proton Unlimited plan with 500GB of storage and more goodies for the other Proton apps.
Both of these plans are paid for annually, but if you’d rather, you can choose a monthly subscription for $5 or $12, respectively.
Try Proton Drive 1GB storage with free plan
You can visit Proton’s official website to learn more.
Proton Drive is offering a very well-rounded package with all the necessary privacy and security features. It sounds like a good deal
Unlimited storage in Google Drive?
- Expand storage space on your Google Drive with Shared Drive (Team drive):
- Unlimited cloud storage
- Lifetime use
- Private data safety
- Sharing with your members
- Apply to your existing Gmail
WHAT’S SPECIAL IN GOOGLE SHARED DRIVE?
Unlimited Storage with lifetime license
This is expand drive in your Google Drive with unlimited & lifetime storage (in case you do not violate Google policy)
Maximum items in a shared drive
A shared drive can contain a maximum of 400,000 items, including files, folders, and shortcuts.
We recommend that you keep shared drives well below the strict limit. Users of shared drives with too many files might have difficulty organizing and finding items or ignore much of the content.
Maximum daily uploads
Individual users can only upload 750 GB each day between My Drive and all shared drives. Users who reach the 750-GB limit or upload a file larger than 750 GB cannot upload additional files that day. Uploads that are in progress will complete. The maximum individual file size that you can upload or synchronize is 5 TB.
File sharing limits
A given file within a shared drive can be directly shared with a maximum of 100 groups.
Folder limits
A folder in a shared drive can support up to 20 levels of nested folders.