Mmmh, its definitely a cock-up when it becomes world-wide news ....
I don't buy their excuses. Clearly they were hassling the account holders:-
“When we pressed the Pay Pal representative on the phone for further details, he questioned whether ProtonMail is legal and if we have government approval to encrypt emails,” author Andy Yen claims.
Account lockouts happen all too often with Paypal... Why people resort to having their lives dictated by this cutthroat operator is beyond me.... Just say no! When someone asks me to pay by pay pal, I check whether the specific PP site stores my credit card and personal info indefinitely. In most cases, and in most jurisdictions it does. I explain that I don't want this, to the payee, and I usually say no thanks. But invariably we work out some other way, bypassing these c*nts!
I'm equally no fan of the banks, but with PP I just feel like I'm waiving all my consumer rights and getting absolutely no banking protection by submitting to their services!