[Infowarrior] - Paypal unblocks ProtonMail, cites 'technical problem'

[Richard Forno]

(c/o AJR)

Jul 1, 2014, 12:52pm EDT
PayPal lifts account suspension for secure email startup ProtonMail

Sara Castellanos
Technology Reporter- Boston Business Journal

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/startups/2014/07/paypal-lifts-account-suspension-for-secure-email.html

PayPal has lifted the account suspension for secure email service startup ProtonMail after it had originally suspended the account associated with the startup's crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo for about 24 hours.

A spokesperson for California-based PayPal said ProtonMail's account was suspended due to a "technical problem."

"In the case of ProtonMail, a technical problem this week resulted in PayPal applying restrictions to the account," according to a PayPal spokesperson. "We have contacted ProtonMail today to solve this and can confirm that ProtonMail is able to receive or send funds through PayPal again. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused."

ProtonMail has raised more than $302,700 as of Tuesday afternoon — surpassing its goal of $100,000, with about two weeks left in its crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo.

ProtonMail, a finalist in this year's MassChallenge startup accelerator and headquartered in Switzerland, was alerted Monday that its PayPal account had been restricted pending further review, according to a blog post on the startup's website.

ProtonMail's co-founder, Andy Yen, said the company is one of the first secure, easy to use, zero-access email services, which means the company doesn't have the technical ability to read users' emails.

In three days, the startup raised $129,000 through its crowdfunding campaign, he wrote in an email on June 20.

"We aspire to be one of the first crowdfunded software startups, and at this rate, we're on track to become one of the largest software crowdfunding campaigns ever," he wrote.

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