Hey Email vs Proton Mail: Privacy Comparison
In this comprehensive privacy comparison, we analyze Hey Email and Proton Mail across six critical dimensions: data collection practices, encryption implementation, third-party data sharing, user privacy controls, transparency, and historical track record. Both services serve similar needs, but their approaches to user privacy differ significantly. Our analysis reveals that Proton Mail offers a meaningfully better privacy experience overall, though each service has relative strengths and weaknesses worth understanding in detail.
Who Wins, and Why
The most useful starting point is the overall tally and the single dimension that decided it. Across the six privacy dimensions we score, Proton Mail finishes ahead of Hey Email, 53/60 to 36/60. That total reflects a side-by-side review in which one service is consistently the more privacy-respecting choice, even though both cover the same functional ground.
Data Collection produced the widest separation between the two, with Proton Mail ahead 6 to 9 out of 10. Third-Party Sharing is where they come closest, a mere 2-point gap (8 vs 10 out of 10). The deeper analysis that follows shows how the lead was built.
What Gets Collected
Every privacy assessment starts with data collection. How much a service gathers, stores, and processes about its users is what ultimately drives the privacy risk of using it. Proton Mail takes a leaner approach here, capturing only the data strictly required to make the service work. Its rival pulls in a wider net of information -- behavioral patterns, device identifiers, and usage analytics that go well past what the core features actually need. Our marks were Hey Email 6/10 and Proton Mail 9/10 in this area. What separates them is not merely how much is gathered but why it is gathered and whether it is truly needed.
How Strong Is the Encryption
Encryption protects user data both in transit and at rest, and the implementation quality varies dramatically between services. Proton Mail implements stronger encryption measures, including more robust protocols for data in transit and better protection for stored data. The specific encryption implementations differ in their coverage (which data is encrypted), their strength (which algorithms and key lengths are used), and whether end-to-end encryption is employed (preventing even the service provider from accessing user content). Hey Email scored 7/10 while Proton Mail scored 10/10 for encryption.
Third-Party Data Sharing
How services share data with third parties is a critical privacy dimension. This includes sharing with advertising networks, analytics providers, business partners, and in response to government requests. Proton Mail maintains more restrictive policies regarding third-party data access. The data sharing practices affect not just privacy but also the security of user information, as each additional party with access represents a potential breach vector. Scores: Hey Email 8/10, Proton Mail 10/10.
Controls You Can Actually Use
The availability and effectiveness of user-facing privacy controls determine how much agency individuals have over their own data. This includes settings for data collection opt-out, download and deletion capabilities, granular permission controls, and the ease with which users can exercise their rights under applicable privacy regulations. Proton Mail provides more comprehensive and accessible privacy controls. Scores: Hey Email 4/10, Proton Mail 7/10.
Transparency
Transparency comes down to how plainly a service explains what it does with data. It shows up in how readable the privacy policy is, whether transparency reports are published, how quickly privacy questions get answered, and whether policy changes are communicated up front. Proton Mail comes across as the more transparent of the two overall. Plain, easy-to-find privacy communication is the bedrock of informed consent and trust. Scores: Hey Email 5/10, Proton Mail 8/10.
What Their History Reveals
Looking at how a service has handled privacy incidents, regulatory actions, and disclosed vulnerabilities over time adds essential context. Proton Mail carries the better historical record on privacy, having faced fewer incidents and dealt with the ones that did come up more responsibly. How a company has acted before is usually the clearest signal of how it will act on privacy going forward. Scores: Hey Email 6/10, Proton Mail 9/10.
Overall Verdict
When the full analysis is tallied, Hey Email finishes at 36/60 and Proton Mail at 53/60. On privacy grounds, the overall winner is Proton Mail. Both products meet similar functional needs, yet the winner brings a more privacy-respecting approach to the dimensions that carry the most weight. Still, perfection is off the table for any service, so no matter which you choose you should actively set up its privacy options. Our advice is to round out your pick with additional privacy tools, a VPN, DNS-level ad blocker, and privacy-focused browser, to assemble a thorough privacy posture. Should your threat model call for the strongest privacy possible, weigh whether an even more privacy-focused alternative exists in this category beyond the two compared here.