Tech companies have already announced their support for Apple in the legal fight over encryption, and ProtonMail says that it now has the occasional needed to fight governments to protect user privacy. While compromise appears elusive in this battle, the UN believes the FBI risks setting a dangerous precedent that could have a chilling effect on human rights. The global availability of the service comes at a time when encryption and privacy are under great scrutiny after Apple refused to help the FBI unlock the iPhone belonging to the Islamic terrorist behind the recent mass shooting in San Bernardino, California.

In addition to fully opening the service to the public, ProtonMail announced the availability of free iOS and Android mobile apps. The second password is never sent to the server but is used only on the device, making the data unavailable to anyone else but the user, the company explains.

To ensure that user data is not accessible by third-parties, not even by ProtonMail itself, the company says that it stores data in an encrypted format and uses two passwords, one required to identify the user, and the other to decrypt the data. With more than 1 million users participating in its closed beta, the service is now open to the world to allow more people take advantage of its privacy protection. Offering end-to-end encryption in its email service, ProtonMail was launched in beta in May 2014 by CERN scientists and has been available on an invite-only basis for the past two-years. Encrypted email provider ProtonMail announced the global availability of its privacy focused email service to the public this week.

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