Proton launches Born Private, an email reservation program to protect children’s digital identities from birth

• Families can now reserve an encrypted email account for their newborns, ensuring they begin their digital lives with a clean slate.
• These accounts remain sealed and protected for up to 15 years, reserving a private, ad-free, encrypted space for the child when they’re ready to start engaging with the internet.
• Once activated, the address serves as the child’s permanent, secure identity for everything from school portals to gaming accounts, ensuring their digital life begins — when they’re ready — without a pre-existing trail of data logs and behavioral profiling.
• Born Private offers a way for the next generation to avoid the data-harvesting traps that have become the norm for their parents.
• New Proton research shows 71% of children have their own device by age 10, yet more than 60% of parents believe Big Tech profits from their children’s data and wish they could erase their children’s digital footprint

GENEVA, Switzerland, March 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —  Proton, the leading digital privacy company trusted by over 100 million users, today launched Born Private. This initiative allows families to reserve a private, encrypted email address for their child for up to 15 years for just $1, keeping their digital identity safe from tracking before they are old enough to need an account.

Most adults are already stuck in a digital world designed to track and profile their every move. Now, the next generation is being pulled into that same system before they can even speak. Since kids now need email earlier than ever before for school and social connection, they are often forced into platforms that track their behavior and collect their data before they understand what privacy even means. An email address is the root credential of modern life — the center of our online identity. With this new initiative, Proton provides an immediate off-ramp, allowing families to secure a child’s future identity before it can be exploited. This ensures that when a child eventually needs an email for schoolwork or social apps — typically around age 10 — they have a private, ad-free option ready to go.

Proton Mail is the world’s largest end-to-end encrypted email service, based in Switzerland and operating under some of the world’s strictest privacy laws. Its use of encryption means that not even Proton, can access, analyze, or monetize users’ inboxes. Most major email services, on the other hand, are designed for immediate data extraction; creating an account initiates a metadata trail, linking the identity to hardware IDs and location data which contribute to the shadow profiles 62% of parents fear will follow their children into adulthood.

While Born Private secures a foundation for the next generation, it is not too late for parents to reclaim their own privacy. Proton provides simple tools to help adults switch, including easy-to-use import and forwarding options that bring existing inbox contents into a protected ecosystem without losing years of data.

Proton surveyed 1,216 U.S. parents with a child under 18 and found a generation of caregivers who feel their children’s early digital lives are already out of control:

• 62% of parents would choose to erase their child’s entire online history and start fresh if they were given the option.
• 65% of parents believe technology companies are failing to protect children’s privacy.
• 63% of parents believe Big Tech is actively profiting from their child’s personal data.
• 32% of children receive their own smartphone or tablet by age 5; by age 10, that number jumps to 71%.

Reserving an encrypted account for their child provides an immediate alternative for the 30% of parents who have already discovered apps or websites over-collecting information on their children in the last 12 months, transforming a hypothetical fear into a daily reality for millions of families.

“We were the first generation to become addicted to a surveillance-based internet, but the next one doesn’t have to be,” said Andy Yen, Founder and CEO of Proton. “This new initiative is about more than an email address; it’s a chance for parents to give their kids a digital foundation built on privacy and ownership, rather than letting Big Tech claim their identity before they can even speak.”

How Born Private Works

• Parents can claim an email address today that remains protected for up to 15 years, bypassing inactive account deletion policies common among mainstream providers.
• Every account uses end-to-end and zero-access encryption to ensure the inbox stays private, with no tracking, profiling, or message scanning.
• The child can unlock the account whenever they are ready with a unique voucher, with easy replacement options for parents if the original is lost.
• Upon activation, the reserved address becomes a fully-featured Proton Mail account. It functions as a secure, lifelong root credential that a child can use for all their online needs while remaining completely invisible to the ad-tech ecosystem.

“Our research shows only 14% of parents strongly trust major tech companies with their children’s data,” says Patricia Egger, Head of Security at Proton. “Helping parents to reserve an encrypted email for their child bridges that trust gap. We are giving families confidence that their child’s online identity stays private and isn’t turned into a data source that follows them for life.”

To mark this launch, Proton partnered with Uncommon Creative Studio – named Ad Age’s Design & Branding Agency of the Year on the 2026 A-List – and award-winning director Olivia de Camps, whose debut short film was acquired by HBO Max, to produce a short film visualizing the eerie feeling of being watched and the shadow profiles that Big Tech builds for children years before they hit adulthood. It serves as a stark reminder that while the previous generation was “born public,” the next one doesn’t have to be. Watch the film here.

Proton’s move allowing parents to reserve an encrypted email for 15 years shifts the default of the internet from surveillance to privacy, beginning at birth.

Availability
The new offer is live today. To ensure these accounts are reserved for real families, Proton requests a $1 minimum donation. 100% of these funds go to the Proton Foundation, the nonprofit primary shareholder dedicated to defending digital rights and ensuring privacy remains the default for the next generation. By reserving an address, families are supporting the broader effort to ensure privacy remains the default for the next generation. Parents can reserve an address now at proton.me/mail/born-private/email. Upon reservation, parents receive a secure activation voucher to be handed over when their child is ready for their first account.

Information for editors:

The survey was conducted by Toluna on behalf of Proton between February and March 2026 and included 1,216 U.S. parents or legal guardians of at least one child under the age of 18. Respondents were asked about their children’s device ownership, email and social media usage, and their personal concerns regarding data collection, digital profiling, and online privacy.

Key Findings

• 62% of parents would choose to erase their child’s entire online history and start over if given the option. This is driven by a deep-seated concern that children’s early digital mistakes or interests will follow them into adulthood.
• Only 14% of parents “strongly trust” major technology companies with their children’s data. 65% of parents believe these companies are failing to protect children’s privacy, and 63% believe tech giants are actively profiting from children’s personal information.
• Concern extends beyond social media to the classroom. 65% of parents are worried that educational platforms (such as school email systems and classroom apps) collect more data about their children than is necessary.
• Parents are specifically worried about how a digital footprint will impact their child’s long-term safety and status:
  • 70% are concerned about their child’s personal safety being compromised by online data.
  • 62% fear that information collected today will be used against their child in the future (e.g., affecting employment or reputation).
  • 59% are concerned about the long-term impact on their child’s reputation.
  • 58% worry about their child’s identity being stolen before they turn 18.
• The digital experience begins almost immediately for many families. 32% of children receive their first dedicated smartphone or tablet by age 5. By age 10, 71% of children have their own device.
• Despite high levels of anxiety, many parents are unaware of the legal protections designed for their families. 50% of U.S. parents have never heard of major privacy regulations like COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) or KOSA (Kids Online Safety Act).
• Parents are looking for practical ways to opt out of the status quo: 50% said they would be likely to reserve an encrypted email address for their child today, and 56% would recommend such a tool to other parents.

More information about the research can be found on the Proton Blog.

About Proton
Proton was started in Switzerland in 2014 by scientists who met at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). Our vision is to build an internet where privacy is the default through an ecosystem of services accessible to everyone, everywhere, every day. Our first product, Proton Mail, is now the world’s largest encrypted email service. Subsequent Proton products such as Proton VPN, Proton Calendar, Proton Drive, and Proton Pass leverage the same advanced encryption to give users full control over how and with whom their data is shared. Our products are open source, developed by a team of over 500, and supported by an active community in more than 180 countries. Proton’s primary shareholder is the non-profit Proton Foundation based in Geneva, Switzerland. Today, Proton is making privacy universally accessible and protects over 100 million accounts, including those of journalists, some of the world’s largest organizations, and ordinary people from all around the world.

Ryan Hallet
Proton Comms Lead, NA
[email protected]

A video accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7a255464-7696-4e74-a94e-52a0b656c7aa

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