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Forward Email vs Spark Mail: privacy compared

Forward Email and Spark Mail are both rated in email clients against the same 8 public criteria. Forward Email is based in the United States (Five Eyes); Spark Mail is based in Ireland.

Forward Email compared with Spark Mail
CriterionForward Email Our pickSpark Mail
GradeGrade B B (89/100)Grade F F (17/100)
JurisdictionUnited States Five EyesIreland Outside Eyes
Open source
Is all the source code needed to run the product public?
Yes sourceNo
No trackers or telemetry
Are the website and apps free of third-party trackers, with any analytics anonymous and any telemetry off by default?
Yes sourceNo source
No ads or data sales
Is the product funded without advertising, ad targeting or selling user data?
Yes sourceYes source
Independent audit
Has an independent security or privacy audit been published within the last three years?
Yes sourceNo
OpenPGP support
Can the app encrypt and sign mail with OpenPGP, built in or through an official add-on?
Yes sourceNo
Connects directly
Does the app connect directly to your mail server, without passing mail or passwords through the vendor's servers?
Yes sourceNo source
Blocks remote content
Are remote images and tracking pixels blocked by default?
Partial sourceNo
Works with any provider
Does the app work with any standard IMAP and SMTP provider?
No sourceYes source

Which is more private, Forward Email or Spark Mail?

Forward Email scores higher on the public criteria: 89 out of 100, against 17 for Spark Mail. Forward Email does better on open source, no trackers or telemetry, independent audit, OpenPGP support, connects directly and blocks remote content. Spark Mail does better on works with any provider. Disclosure. Privacy Ratings is maintained by the team behind Forward Email. This entry is scored by the same criteria as every other email client, and changes to it are reviewed under the published conflict-of-interest rules. How scoring works

Summaries

Forward Email. Forward Email scores 89 out of 100 (grade B) on the email clients criteria. It meets 6 of 8 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, independent audit, OpenPGP support and connects directly. It partly meets blocks remote content. It does not meet works with any provider. It is based in the United States: Five Eyes member; subject to the US CLOUD Act.

Spark Mail. Spark Mail scores 17 out of 100 (grade F) on the email clients criteria. It meets 2 of 8 criteria: no ads or data sales and works with any provider. It does not meet open source, no trackers or telemetry, independent audit, OpenPGP support, connects directly and blocks remote content. It is based in Ireland: Not in the Five, Nine or Fourteen Eyes; EU member (GDPR).

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