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Cake day: July 1st, 2023

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  • Andy Yen might not have the same publicity as Bernie Sanders, but the history is there. This article covers actions and statements from Andy and Proton going back about ten years from what I can see in the timestamps. Some of the highlights include Andy personally:

    • announcing programs to support girls into tech that may be considered DEI by GOP standards
    • announcing fundraising for Ukraine after the Russian invasion
    • criticizing the termination of Credit Suisse’s first and only black CEO, Tidjane Thiam, as racism
    • praising Biden’s choice for FTC chair, Lina Khan, after she initiated lawsuits against big tech
    • collaborating with Lina Khan in an antitrust report submitted by a Democratic party majority in the Subcommittee on Antitrust
    • and outlining new privacy concerns resulting from Trump taking control of the NSA on the official Proton blog.

    Yet, despite Andy’s history of actions that run contrary to Trump and the GOP platform, I’d charge that the greater false equivalency is equating Andy as Proton. While Bernie can clearly speak for himself, Andy is not alone in controlling Proton. Proton is a non-profit foundation governed by a board of directors and is headquartered in a country with laws against complying with US subpoenas. As as greater entity, Proton has donated to left-leaning organizations such as Fight for the Future in the US, Access Now, and Women Who Code. Reviewing Proton donations, I don’t see any right-leaning contributions. Most of it is toward privacy and freedom-of-press focused organizations that align with my views. You may have made up your mind on Andy, but I refuse to throw out the entire positive history of Proton in response to this one tweet.