Proton Lumo Launches New AI Assistant With Full Encryption And Strict Privacy

Lumo features the "Ghost mode" feature (photo: x @ProtonPrivacy)

JAKARTA - Proton, a Swiss company known for its encrypted email service and VPN, Thursday 24 July launched Lumo, an AI assistant who promises private and encrypted conversations.

Lumo is here as an alternative to mainstream AI services such as OpenAI's ChatGPT or Gemini from Google, which often uses user data to train their artificial intelligence models.

Like other AI chatbots, Lumo can be used to analyze documents, rewrite emails, and create program codes. But what distinguishes it is that the system doesn't store conversation logs on Proton servers. All data remains locally encrypted on users' devices with the same technology as Mail services and their VPNs.

Proton insists that they cannot read the contents of the user's conversation, even if the user uses the Proton account. Lumo also doesn't send questions or user answers back to the server to train future AI models, so there's no risk of personal data appearing in other people's conversations.

Use Open-Source And Self-Infrastructure Models

Lumo runs using open source AI models such as Mistral'sten and Nvidia OpenHands 32B, operated from Proton's own data center in Europe. This means that full control of the data and the system is in Proton's hands, not third parties.

Lumo is equipped with the "Ghost mode" feature, where all conversations will be permanently deleted once they are closed. If the user activates the web search feature, the search will be conducted via a privacy-friendly search engine. Lumo can also be integrated with Proton Drive, and all files shared are still encrypted.

Lumo can be used for free on Lumo.proton.me and does not require a Proton account. But for Proton users, the conversation history can be saved with a secure zero access encryption system (zero-access encryption) on all devices.

For advanced users, there is a Lumo Plus at a cost of 12.99 US dollars (around Rp. 211,000) per month, which provides unlimited access to conversations and file uploads.

Proton CEO Andy Yen said that Lumo's presence was part of the company's mission to maintain digital freedom.

"AI should not be the most powerful surveillance tool in the world. Therefore, we believe it is important to provide alternatives that really maintain privacy and serve users instead of exploiting them," he said.