Telus email now powered by Google

[Benjamin]

This post really only affects those with a Telus email account who are, most likely, a Canadian resident, but it may also show Google's fingers at work. FYI, Telus is the largest of "the big three" providers of TV, internet, home phone and cell phone services in Canada (the other two are Bell and Rogers).

I received a (rather disturbing, imo) email just before lunch today informing me that Telus and Google had partnered and that Telus' email service was now powered by Google and that if I wanted to continue receiving emails I would have to migrate my Telus account to a Google account since Telus will end support for their email rather quickly, it sounds (though it seems this migration started last year already). I will admit Telus' email has grown ridiculously long in the tooth and has needed a serious overhaul for many years now. But this solution I did not expect. And I'm not that happy with it for several reasons. (see SOTT: "Google knows what's in your email before you do").

Telus states in my email:

Rest assured, your data remains under the governance of TELUS' stringent privacy protocols. With TELUS email, you will not get ads on your email (unlike the publicly available Gmail) and you will continue to get support from TELUS. Your email address... will NOT change, and we will migrate all your emails (including pictures and attachments within them), contacts, calendar events and alternative email accounts.

I don't know how long other people keep their emails, but I have emails going back to 2013. To me, this looks like a massive data grab and a serious breach of privacy. Am I wrong about this? Am I overthinking/reacting?

A few bits from the Telus Support FAQ page:

About our partnership with Google​

Why is TELUS partnering with Google?

We have partnered with Google as they are one of the best and most recognizable names in the industry. The Google platform that customers are migrating to is the enterprise-grade G Suite (also known as Google Workspaces), trusted by governments, universities and leading businesses around the globe, including TELUS.

Customers are not being migrated to the publicly available Gmail product and data remains under the governance of TELUS's stringent privacy protocols, in alignment with the TELUS Privacy Management Program. For more details on our Privacy Management Program and privacy policy, see telus.com/privacy.

Will Google have access to my data?

While your data will be stored in Google's network of geographically distributed data centres, TELUS maintains a robust information security governance program to protect your personal information with appropriate security safeguards. We safeguard customer data through administrative, physical and technical security controls.

Where is my data stored?

Your data will now be stored in Google's network of geographically distributed data centres. However, the protection and control of your personal information will continue to be by TELUS. Additionally, as per our privacy policy, personal information collected by TELUS will be stored and processed in Canada or other countries. For more information on TELUS privacy policies visit telus.com/privacy.

So, if it even matters anymore, is there a safe email service out there? I might be looking for a move (which is going to be so much work). Any recommendations?

Thanks!
Cheers!

The email:

 

[anartist]

well @Benjamin I use Startmail.com and Protonmail.com. Both are free or annual/monthly subscription. end to end encryption with fellow Startmail or Protonmail users, and can use encryption to send email to others and they use a password to decrypt your email. They are worth looking into I think. I have a Bell email address also, as that is our ISprovider in Ontario.

 

[PlatonicSkeptic]

i like tutanota have been using it since it became open source, never let me down

 

[Benjamin]

well @Benjamin I use Startmail.com and Protonmail.com. Both are free or annual/monthly subscription. end to end encryption with fellow Startmail or Protonmail users, and can use encryption to send email to others and they use a password to decrypt your email. They are worth looking into I think. I have a Bell email address also, as that is our ISprovider in Ontario.

Thanks anartist. I looked at both and Startmail is a bit more then I want to pay right now and after reading sToRmR1dR's post from this thread, I might not choose Protonmail even if I like everything it offers. I'm looking at Tutanota ($12 Euro/year) right now. Doesn't have everything I'm looking for but I'm willing to deal with some 'shortcomings'. And as Scottie responded to sToRmR1dR:

That doesn't surprise me. In the end, we don't really have a choice except disconnecting, which isn't really possible nowadays.

 

[Benjamin]

Well, migration is done, I think. I really hope I don't have to do that again. What a lot of work!

Once I started migrating my emails, I decided to unsubscribe from a few lists, and then decided to close some of the accounts that have become stagnant... which turned into a fairly big thing. I've now deleted my old Microsoft account (doing this made me feel really sad in my solar plexus area), Twitter (which I never used anyway), and my Google account, as well as several other smaller accounts. The only big accounts I have left are Apple and FB. I noticed that after I deleted those accounts, the noise in my mind lessened. I also feel "calmer" somehow.

 

[duyunne]

I suggest Secure email: ProtonMail is free encrypted email.

That's where I've been *slowly, slowly* migrating to.

However, I'm not certain it's going to be a long term mainstay service such as hotmail was. I've been burned by many email providers shutting down in the past... It's not going to be easy.


NM _ saw the post you mentioned earlier about proton, interesting... I still think it's better than Google and Microsoft.

Maybe the best thing now that I ponder hard on it: How To Set Up Your Own Email Server

 

[Benjamin]

I had a lot of choices that I looked at but eventually went with tutanota. Though, they worked with a group called TeamUSEC formed around Prof. Sascha Fahl developing something called 'PQmail' (Post-Quantum mail) that was funded by the EU that I know little about. Digging around on this Prof. Fahl guy (who looks a bit like a cross between Bill Gates and an aged Ferris Bueller), I found these little bits that made me go hmmm:

From Prof. Dr. Sascha Fahl :

I am recipient of a Google Faculty Research Award (2017), the John Karat Usable Privacy and Security Student Research Award (2017) and the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz-Prize (2018). One of the papers I co-authored won the Best Scientific Cybersecurity Paper Competition of the NSA (2016).

And from the pressroom of the NSA site from Aug. 6, 2014 (Release No: PA-270-18):

Sascha Fahl and Dr. Matthew Smith will also be honored during the ceremony for their research as this year's honorable mention. The competition reflects the Agency's desire to increase scientific rigor in cybersecurity.

So he's participated in at least 2 paper competitions for the NSA and won one of them. Makes me wonder if I made a temporary choice?

Maybe the best thing now that I ponder hard on it: How To Set Up Your Own Email Server

OOhhhh. Yeah. This is what I'd like. Interesting article. I will look more deeply into it. Thanks duyunne!