Swiss company Proton AG, the creator of Proton Mail, faced criticism in April for providing user information to Spanish police upon request. The request was linked to a Catalan pro-independence activist. Critics argue that the company, which promises privacy, has betrayed its users. However, others argue that Proton Mail has done an excellent job of limiting access to user metadata and that the company is simply complying with legal requests. In 2023 alone, Proton complied with nearly 6,000 legal requests. The debate has sparked discussions on the limitations of encryption and the potential benefits of decentralization in limiting metadata collection.