WEB.DE privacy rating

Summary

WEB.DE scores 38 out of 100 (grade F) on the email providers criteria. It meets 5 of 21 criteria: TLS configuration, open protocols, custom domains, IMAP support and POP3 support. It partly meets transparency report, security headers, modern web standards, end-to-end encryption, email security standards, SMTP submission and mail transport security. It does not meet open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, independent audit, tells users about requests, encrypted mailbox storage, sign up without personal data, Sender Rewriting Scheme and ARC sealing. It is based in Germany: Fourteen Eyes member; EU member (GDPR). Automated tests: SSL Labs grade A+, Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade B, Internet.nl website score 86% and Internet.nl email score 82%.

Score 38 out of 100. How scoring works

Criteria

• ✖No

  Open source ×3Weight 3 of 3

  Is all the source code needed to run the product public?

  Closed source.

• ✖No

  No trackers or telemetry ×3Weight 3 of 3

  Are the website and apps free of third-party trackers, with any analytics anonymous and any telemetry off by default?

  The home page loads a Criteo pixel, and the privacy policy describes usage analysis and personalized advertising based on consent.

  agb-server.web.de

• ✖No

  No ads or data sales ×2Weight 2 of 3

  Is the product funded without advertising, ad targeting or selling user data?

  The free service is funded by advertising, including personalized ads. With consent, mail from commercial senders is analyzed to build an interest profile.

  agb-server.web.de

• ✖No

  Independent audit ×2Weight 2 of 3

  Has an independent security or privacy audit been published within the last three years?

  No independent audit is published.

• ◐Partial

  Transparency report ×2Weight 2 of 3

  Does the provider regularly publish how many government and legal requests it receives and how it responds?

  A yearly DSA transparency report, shared with GMX, counts only orders under the EU Digital Services Act. Other law enforcement requests are not counted.

  web.de

• ✖No

  Tells users about requests ×1Weight 1 of 3

  Does the provider promise to tell users about requests for their data, unless a court forbids it?

  No published policy on notifying users about data requests.

• ◐Partial

  End-to-end encryption ×3Weight 3 of 3

  Can mail be end-to-end encrypted so that the provider cannot read message contents?

  OpenPGP encryption works through the Mailvelope browser extension and the WEB.DE apps, and is off by default. The help pages say new setup in webmail is not possible at the moment.

  hilfe.web.de

• ✖No

  Encrypted mailbox storage ×3Weight 3 of 3

  Is stored mail encrypted with a key the provider does not hold?

  Encryption at rest for stored mail is not documented.

• ✔Yes

  Open protocols ×2Weight 2 of 3

  Can any standard app connect over IMAP, POP3, SMTP, CalDAV or CardDAV, without extra software?

  IMAP, POP3 and SMTP work with other apps once enabled in settings.

  hilfe.web.de

• ✔Yes

  Custom domains ×1Weight 1 of 3

  Can mail be sent and received with your own domain?

  Paid Domain & Mail plans add a custom domain with up to 500 addresses in the WEB.DE mailbox.

  produkte.web.de

• ✖No

  Sign up without personal data ×2Weight 2 of 3

  Can an account be created without a phone number or another email address?

  Registration asks for name, date of birth and postal address, and requires a German or Swiss mobile number confirmed by SMS.

  hilfe.web.de

• ✖No

  Sender Rewriting Scheme ×1Weight 1 of 3

  Is the envelope sender rewritten with SRS when mail is forwarded, so forwarded mail keeps passing SPF?

  No published documentation on SRS for forwarded mail.

• ✖No

  ARC sealing ×1Weight 1 of 3

  Does the provider validate and add ARC (RFC 8617) signatures, so authentication results survive forwarding?

  No published documentation on ARC signing or validation.

Automated tests

• ✔Yes

  TLS configuration ×2Weight 2 of 3

  Does the website pass the Qualys SSL Labs test with a grade of A or better?

  Grade A+

  ssllabs.com

• ◐Partial

  Security headers ×1Weight 1 of 3

  Does the website pass the Mozilla HTTP Observatory test with a grade of A or better?

  Grade B (75/100+)

  developer.mozilla.org

• ◐Partial

  Modern web standards ×1Weight 1 of 3

  Does the website score 90% or higher on the Internet.nl website test?

  Score 86%

  batch.internet.nl

• ◐Partial

  Email security standards ×2Weight 2 of 3

  Does the mail domain score 90% or higher on the Internet.nl email test?

  Score 82%

  batch.internet.nl

• ✔Yes

  IMAP support ×2Weight 2 of 3

  Does the IMAP server accept connections over implicit TLS on port 993 and advertise IMAP4rev1 or IMAP4rev2 with IDLE push?

  imap.web.de:993 (implicit TLS). IMAP4rev1 advertised with IDLE.

• ✔Yes

  POP3 support ×1Weight 1 of 3

  Does the POP3 server accept connections over implicit TLS on port 995 and answer CAPA with UIDL?

  pop3.web.de:995 (implicit TLS). CAPA: TOP, UIDL, USER, SASL, IMPLEMENTATION.

• ◐Partial

  SMTP submission ×2Weight 2 of 3

  Does mail submission work over implicit TLS on port 465 with SMTPUTF8, 8BITMIME, PIPELINING and AUTH?

  smtp.web.de:465 (implicit TLS). Missing: SMTPUTF8, PIPELINING.

• ◐Partial

  Mail transport security ×3Weight 3 of 3

  Does the mail domain enforce encrypted, authenticated delivery with MTA-STS, DANE, DNSSEC, TLS-RPT and an enforced DMARC policy?

  Passes: SPF, DMARC quarantine, TLS-RPT, DNSSEC, DANE all. Missing: MTA-STS testing.

Email standards

• ✔Yes: Mail serversMXmx-ha02.web.de, mx-ha03.web.de
• ✔Yes: RFC 7208 sender policySPFpublished
• ✔Yes: RFC 7489. Quarantine or reject counts as enforcedDMARCp=quarantine
• ✖No: RFC 8461 strict transport securityMTA-STStesting
• ✔Yes: RFC 8460 TLS failure reportsTLS-RPTpublished
• ✔Yes: RFC 4033 signed DNSDNSSECsigned and validated
• ✔Yes: RFC 7672 TLSA records on MX hostsDANEall
• ✖No: Brand logo record (not scored)BIMInone
• ✖No: RFC 6186 and RFC 8314 service records (not scored)SRVnone

Capabilities are what each server advertises before login. How these tests work