Proton Drive Gets New Encrypted Sharing Features

Sharing files online means opening yourself up to having your data compromised, or at least it did until Proton Drive got some sharing improvements.

In a press release sent to Lifewire, Proton, the Swiss company that created the secure email program Proton Mail announced improvements to Proton Drive. Proton Drive is a free cloud storage option that includes strong encryption. Now, Proton Drive has more secure flexible sharing options.

Tops among those new options is the ability to decide if you want to share your files and folders publicly using a link that can be shared with anyone, or privately, by sharing the file to an email address. If you choose to share publicly, anyone with the link will be able to access your files, while sharing to an email address limits sharing to only the person who can access that email address.

You also now have the option to give those you share your files with permissions, much like you can do with Google Drive. When you choose to share something, you can set the person or group to be a Viewer or Editor. Viewers can only look at the file you've shared, while Editors can make changes. You can, however, revoke access to anyone sharing your documents, whether they're Viewers or Editors.

Of course, this is Proton, so your files remain fully encrypted all the time. That means end-to-end encryption that Proton said uses the "modern elliptic curve and OpenPGP standard" which prevent even Proton from viewing the contents of your documents (or mail, or passwords, regardless of whether you're using a Windows or Mac computer).

"Even in the event of a government request, Proton cannot decrypt your files, ensuring that your data remains completely secure and private. This feature gives users complete control over their data, combining familiar collaboration tools with uncompromising security and privacy. With this new update, Proton Drive expands beyond public link sharing, enabling users to create shared file spaces for effortless and secure collaboration," the company wrote in its press release.