On Monday, June 30, ProtonMail – a secure email startup – reported that PayPal had frozen its account. However, recent reports say that the freeze has been reversed, and that it had occurred because of a technical problem.
According to GigaOm, ProtonMail received no warning that their account would be frozen, and that it took nearly all day to even get a response from PayPal.
In a company statement, PayPal explained that it had recently made changes to the way it handled accounts of people who were using crowdfunding sites to support their ideas. The process “involves engaging crowdfunding campaign owners early on to clearly understand their campaign goals and help them ensure their campaigns are compliant with our policies and government regulations.”
However, in ProtonMail’s case, PayPal said that a technical problem resulted in restrictions being applied to the account.
In response, ProtonMail questioned on its blog why it was singled out.
“When we pressed the PayPal representative on the phone for further details, he questioned whether ProtonMail is legal and if we have government approval to encrypt emails,” ProtonMail wrote. “We are not sure which government PayPal is referring to, but even the 4th Amendment of the U.S. constitution guarantees: ‘The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures….’
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