Worried about AI privacy? Try Proton's Lumo chatbot!

As AI becomes more and more integrated into our lives, a worrying trend is emerging: The demand for access to personal data is increasing. If that doesn't make you happy, you shouldn't overreact. Proton understands this concern and recently introduced Lumo, a new chatbot designed with privacy in mind. Let's take a look at what's different and how to try it out!

1. Download Lumo for Android | iOS | Web

Learn about Proton Lumo

Swiss company Proton, known for privacy-first tools like Proton Mail and Proton VPN, is applying its strict privacy principles to AI. With the launch of Lumo, Proton aims to provide an AI chatbot that can provide assistance without tracking users or storing their personal data.

To achieve that goal, Lumo relies on open-source large language models (LLMs) , including Mistral's Nemo, Mistral Small 3, Nvidia's OpenHands 32B, and the Allen Institute's OLMO 2 32B model, and uses Proton's open-source encryption to protect sensitive user data. To ensure complete transparency, Proton has also released the assistant's entire source code, so anyone can examine it for vulnerabilities or bugs.

Furthermore, Lumo doesn't search the web by default and deletes chats as soon as you exit the app. Proton doesn't store these chats on its servers or anywhere else, ensuring your data stays secure.

Lumo is available on the web as well as mobile apps for Android and iOS. The adorable mascot is part of the interface, adding a friendly and engaging element to the user experience.

What can Lumo do?

You can use Lumo without an account if that's easier for you, or you can sign up for a free account. A paid plan is also available for $12.99/month (you can also opt for an annual plan), which gives you unlimited daily chats, access to chat history, and access to advanced AI models. The free account also gives you access to chat history (with limits) and limits the number of queries you can make per day, similar to ChatGPT .

Lumo uses zero-access encryption to protect your chat history, meaning only you can see it. No outside app or service has access, not even Proton.

Now you might be wondering what Lumo can do. Here are some of the tasks that Proton's AI chatbot can help you with:

1. Answer the question
2. Text summary
3. Compose email
4. Programming support
5. Translation
6. Web search (user must enable this option manually)
7. Provide technical support
8. Upload files for analysis (integration with Proton's cloud storage solution, Proton Drive, is now available)

Note : You can also speak these requests, not just type them.

Proton notes that Lumo uses privacy-focused search engines to deliver results, but doesn't say exactly which ones. It also says that uploaded files won't be stored on Proton's servers.

Once Lumo has created a response, you can easily tap the Copy button to share it with others. You can also rate the response and Lumo will recognize the responses you find helpful.

According to Proton, none of your conversations or inputs were used to train the Lumo AI chatbot. However, the company has not shared details about the training method.

Lumo includes Ghost Mode, which you can activate by clicking the little cat wearing sunglasses icon in the upper left corner. This is a useful feature if you're logged in but want to erase some searches from your history.

Additionally, if you want to view your chat history, you can do so by clicking on the History icon on the left menu on the web.

On mobile, tap the 3-bar menu in the upper left corner to view history.

Lumo launches at a time when concerns about AI and privacy are rising. Backed by Proton's established reputation for security and data protection, the chatbot aims to provide a safer way to use AI. However, as a new product, Lumo currently lacks some advanced features found in more mature AI chatbots. For example, it can't create Ghibli-style images for you like ChatGPT, nor can it create prompt-based videos like Gemini .

David Pac

Update 31 July 2025