We are very happy to announce that end of last year Wren, Johannes and Noah joined our team. They have all joined our product team and are working on client-side features. We are sure that you have noticed the accelerated speed of new features being introduced already!
In the last few months, we have completed the following features - all with the help of Wren and Noah - while Johannes is working on the import feature.
⚡️ Offline mode on all devices
⚡️ Sender name per alias
⚡️ Subfolders
We expect that many more people will join our team here in Hanover in 2023 so if you are passionate not only about privacy, but also about programming, be sure to apply with us!
Introducing Wren
Why I joined Tutanota
I started using Tutanota about five years ago, when I started looking for ways to be more proactive about how I protect my personal data. When I first started programming as a teenager, I remember being so excited about the things technology can do and imagining all the amazing things it could do for us. Since then, I will admit I have become a bit jaded and cynical seeing all of that awesome potential be eaten up by large corporations who use those technologies to take our data and make us products.
I want to work towards that exciting and hopeful future I imagined, not a distopia. To truly achieve that future a lot needs to change. One of those things is personal data security online being the default. I believe working here is one of the ways I can help move towards that future.
Why I like working at Tutanota
Even though I have only been here for two months, I have been able to work on some cool features. There is a really great team here, they have been so welcoming and they are all really great and passionate. I am excited to be working on the future of Tutanota and I hope everyone else is looking forward to it!
Introducing Noah
Why I joined Tutanota
As a computer science student, there is an immense variety of possible jobs. But if you want to work at a company that has a big focus on security, privacy, and the environment, rather than just building software and products because it’s technically possible, there are very few companies left. Tutanota is one of the companies that combines all these things.
Why I like working at Tutanota
I’m currently doing a 6-month internship in the product team. This means that I work directly on the mail client, including the web client, desktop clients, and Android and iOS apps. Depending on sprint scheduling, there are sometimes small bug fixes that I do myself or implement new features like the subfolder feature in a pair.
Due to the use of agile development the work is very varied and customer-focused. The fact that I use the product we develop not only at work but also in my free time in addition to the fact that we get direct feedback from millions of users is super motivating and rewarding.
The impact of each line of code is directly visible and can be used by people all over the world within a few weeks.
Also, as an intern I was integrated into the team super quickly. I was given responsibility right from the start. And since we often work in pairs at Tutanota the learning curve is very steep.
My vision of the future internet
For me, privacy often comes at the sacrifice of comfort. For example, if I want to switch completely to Signal and uninstall WhatsApp, I either need to have annoying discussions with friends and try to convince them to switch as well, or I can no longer chat with them.
Another example is that while it is possible to protect privacy with mainstream email providers by using PGP, this is not accessible to the average user.
Tutanota already fixes both of these problems when it comes to mailing. With Tutanota, security and privacy are easily accessible to lay people, and it is even possible to communicate securely (end-to-end encrypted) with others who have not chosen Tutanota.
My long-term vision for the Internet is that this becomes the standard. There is no longer any good reason why insecure and privacy-hostile services are offered at all.
Since I’m often asked why I’m so concerned about privacy on the Internet, I’d like to end by leaving a little thought of mine here: The main idea that it is the standard that every move on the Internet can be observed is somehow absurd to me. In real life, it would be unthinkable to sit in a café with a friend and know that the café owner is allowed to listen in on everything you talk about, record it, sell it, and possibly forward it to the governments just because they provide the space for the conversation. It’s the same on the Internet, with the only difference being that on the Internet it’s technically possible to prevent eavesdropping through end-to-end encryption.
Introducing Johannes
Why I joined Tutanota
On my past journey to a more secure and privacy-friendly email provider - I stopped at Tutanota.
On my recent search for an interesting and exciting master’s thesis topic in computer science - I stopped at Tutanota.
Combining what I love to do (programming) with what I need to do (master’s thesis) in a domain that I believe in (privacy-focused applications) sounded like an ideal plan.
What I do at Tutanota
I am now doing my master’s thesis on how to implement a zero-knowledge import feature for the encrypted email service Tutanota. The challenge is to build this feature in such a way that our server never sees the unencrypted data - even while importing it.
Now, working for roughly a month on my master’s thesis, it surely feels like the right decision!
The team, the product, the atmosphere, and most importantly the spirit to bring privacy and encryption to users all over the world, are fascinating to me every day! Though, one of the most impressive things here at Tutanota is the transparency that everyone is working with. Not only that (almost) every single step of the development cycle is publicly visible for everyone on GitHub, but this way it is also easier to contribute to the open-source project. And, to add a cherry on top of the cake, even the salary is transparent here at Tutanota. 😀
We need more transparency
I believe that the Internet and our society in general needs more of this transparency! I want to know what companies and apps are tracking me. I want to know what they do with my data and most importantly, I want to be able to stop this behavior and rather pay for the services that I like to use.
From my experience, transparency and trust are best employed in cases where they are actually not needed because end-to-end encryption replaces their need.
This is why I believe that an open-source and end-to-end encrypted service like Tutanota should be the new “status Quo”. It’s transparency that enables privacy!