Proton consistently markets itself as a Swiss company that is unrelated to the United States and therefore subject only to Swiss law.
However, the Proton Wallet Terms of Use state:
“Accessing or using the Services, or attempting to do so, from any territory under comprehensive sanctions administered by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury…”
Why would a Swiss company—one that has no offices in the United States and promotes itself as being free from U.S. jurisdiction—need to comply with U.S. law?
It’s also worth noting that, even when using a VPN, users cannot access Proton Wallet from U.S.‑sanctioned countries. This suggests that Proton adds a location restriction to every account, regardless of where the user actually resides. You can see VPN sign and region error in the image below
This is because US allies must also comply with sanctions if they want to be US allies in full.
You can obviously still access Proton services by using a VPN and changing your location. This is a no brainer and the most obvious ways to bypass any restriction(s).
And to answer your titular question - Yes. It really is a non US company.
Yes, this is true. Albeit, they are starting to search for better alternatives given the new bills Swiss government is trying to make laws. We don’t know where they may go yet. But as of right now, we are all still protected by Swiss privacy laws that Proton avails us.
