Oh well, Proton just became useless.
> Under no circumstances can our encryption be bypassed, meaning emails, attachments, calendars, files, etc. cannot be compromised by legal orders.
> [..] We will also clarify that the use of our onion site (details below) is highly recommended for users who want anonymity
Source: https://protonmail.com/blog/climate-activist-arrest/
So I guess you should be using Tor or protonVPN if you don't want to hide your access logs from swiss authorities.
They could have done a better job at explaining the threat model to the wider public, but I wouldn't say they are useless. I think it's advisable to not have a knee jerk reaction.
EDIT: link to their published threat model: https://protonmail.com/blog/protonmail-threat-model/
If a state agent wants my data and brings the necessary paperwork to get it - I'm not expecting anyone to put up a hopeless fight for me, or at least not for the 100 bucks or so that I'm paying yearly for PM.
I just expect them to not sell out my data altogether, which PM doesn't seem to be doing, and this is all (or at least, most) that I care about.
Without abiding by Godwin's law, "i was merely operating under local regulations" is a well-known defense of nazi collaborators during WWII and was considered an invalid argument then and now.
If you ever receive a court order ordering you to kill someone, will you do it without even giving it second thoughts just because it's a local law?!
See also: milgram experiment, stanford experiment, and in general social studies on the authoratitive/fascist mindset.
Defense in depth, always.
You would be much better off by using a non-European/USA/Western provider.