The short answer to this question should be a resounding “No”. For many years people have signed up for “Free” email accounts with Google, Yahoo, Outlook etc. without fully realising or understanding the inherit “cost” to the account holder.
The cost to you, the user, is your data. Your personal information and email content becomes a product to which the free email providers sell to third parties, such as advertisers and marketing companies, who in turn make massive profits from it. Is this something you are comfortable with? Knowing that everything you write to a loved one, family member, client or doctor is being scanned and then used to build a data profile on you.
Privacy should not be considered a luxury item or service, it is a necessity to which all online users should have access to and also avail off. In 2013, Yahoo had a data breach with effected more than 1 billion accounts, the full scale of this breach went unreported until September of 2016. Sometimes what you are given for free is not worth the risks it leaves you open to.
Why would I care? Sure I have nothing to hide.
This is the most common reply given by people who see no value in signing up for an email privacy service. They believe that just because they are not involved in any illegal activity that they don’t mind who scans their email as they have nothing to hide. But what if your free email provider started to offer your personal information to other forms of third parties such as insurance companies. Would that make you think or feel any different towards your email privacy? Could you imagine your insurance premium being increased on your renewal just because your insurance company could attain from your data that you had 8 injury related visits to your GP in the past 12 months.
This type of scenario is not something based on fiction. Access to your data is becoming more attainable, it is up to you to try protect it as a necessity and not a luxury.
Why would I pay for Email?
The simple answer is you don’t have too. But you should definitely consider the benefits of it, cyber related hacks are becoming ever more occurring. Your data is becoming ever more valuable and the better you protect it the better you protect yourself. The annual cost of a Topmail private email account is €24.95 per year, this works out at €2.08 per month. Less than the price of a cup of coffee per month. Missing out on one cup of coffee a month would be the cost to you for protecting your private information and email correspondence for a full year! Hardly what you would expect for the cost of a “Luxury” service.
If you are still unsure whether private email is for you then you can check out our homepage here (www.topmail.com). We have a very informative and short video which will help to explain further the benefits of our service. You can also avail of a FREE one month trial, with no credit card details needed for the sign up.