The Simple Email Comparison is an attempt to boil down the massive amount of raw data in the Detailed Comparison to be more accessible to people who don’t care about each and every data point.
Since I’m forced to use weighted values for this kind of a comparison, I want to be completely transparent and open with how they’re being calculated, which is why this page exists.
As usual, Green, Yellow, and Red flags are used and mean the following: Green = “Generally good”, Yellow = “Something of concern”, and Red = “Something major of concern”.
Jurisdiction:
Red Flag: Five Eyes Country, Enemy of the Internet, or Not Disclosed
Yellow Flag: Nine Eyes Country, Fourteen Eyes Country, Owned, or Cooperative.
Green Flag: Not a Fourteen Eyes Country AND Not an Enemy of the Internet.
Logging
Points are given for each other category logged. From categories other than traffic logging 1 pt each, half points for not disclosed categories, or for “See Note”. None given for a clear “not being logged”
Red Flag: 2 or more “points” in the category
Yellow Flag: fewer than 2 “points” in the category
Green Flag: .5 or fewer “points” in the category
Activism
If no anonymous payment method is offered (including email), a service receives 3 points here automatically. Points are given for not accepting bitcoin, not using an open source platform (.5 for only open sourcing part of the platform), and not having a PGP key.
Red Flag: 5 or more “points” in the category
Yellow Flag: fewer than 5 “points” in the category
Green Flag: 2 or fewer “points” in the category
Service Config
Points given for red categories in service configuration section. Half points given for a “No” in POP3.
Red Flag: 2 or more “points” in the category
Yellow Flag: fewer than 2 “points” in the category
Green Flag: .5 or fewer “points” in the category
Security
1 point given if user doesn’t control private key, doesn’t use encryption (1 for transit/rest), or doesn’t specify the kind of encryption being used.
Red Flag: If 2 or more “points” given in the category
Yellow Flag: fewer than or equal to 2 “points” in the category
Green Flag: .5 or fewer “points” in the category
Availability
1 points given for < 3 connections, 1 point for no custom domain and for each “No” in features section. 1 point for less than 1 GB of storage for both email and documents.
Red Flag: More than 3 “points” in the category
Yellow Flag: 3 or fewer “points” in the category
Green Flag: 1 or fewer “points” in the category
Website
0 pts for 0 persistent cookies, 1 if < 5, 2 is <10, 3 otherwise. 0 pts for 0 external trackers, 1 for < 3, 2 for < 10, 3 otherwise. 0 pts for 0 proprietary APIs, 1 for < 5, 2 for < 10, 3 otherwise. 0 pts for A+ or A server grade, 1 for B, 5 otherwise. 0 pts for self-signed cert, 2 for CloudFlare/Incapsula, 3 for no cert
Red Flag: more than 6 points in the category
Yellow Flag: 6 or fewer points in the category
Green Flag: 3 or fewer points in the category
Pricing
Max price cells created at the bottom of the price columns. No points if in the bottom 3rd (least expensive) for price and price/connection, 1 pt for middle 3rd, and 2 pts for top 3rd (most expensive). No points if trial offered (or service free of charge), 1 if not. 0 pts for 30 days or more for refund (or service free of charge), 1 pt for 14 or more, 2 pts for 7 or more, 3 pts otherwise.
Red Flag: more than 6 points in the category
Yellow Flag: 6 or fewer points in the category
Green Flag: 3 or fewer points in the category
Ethics
1 pt for each good faith column violated. 1 pt for each no in affiliate policies, .5 for “some”, 0 for a yes. 1 pt for each affiliate violation. Ethics are being tracked here ONLY for the fields indicated. Services may have shady dealings outside of these fields.
Red Flag: 3 or more “points” in the category
Yellow Flag: fewer than 3 “points” in the category
Green Flag: 0 “points” in the category
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