Many people know the story of the Mars Climate Orbiter that crashed due to a difference in units used by two pieces of software. It’s important when communicating that everyone (or every piece of software) is able to communicate accurately so that mistakes don’t happen.
The Internet is by its nature technical. As such some of the terms that are used can be confused or misused. Sometimes small details can be the difference between something working or not working, or in the case of terminology a problem being understood or misunderstood.
One of the words we often use at Runbox that can cause confusion is “hosting”. There are different kinds of hosting and some sound similar or can easily be misunderstood.
We have made many improvements to the Runbox 7 app over the past months, and in this post we highlight some recent changes and enhancements we’ve made to the service.
💡 To enable the new features, please ensure that Runbox 7 is updated by reloading it in a web browser or restarting it on your phone.
New Allow and Blocking Functionality
We have added a new Allow Sender and Block Sender option for the mail viewer, along with a sender/domain blocking functionality.
Thinking about stepping away from Big Tech but not sure where to turn? You’re not alone. More and more people are questioning how their data is used — and tired of being tracked, targeted, and profiled for profit. Some are choosing European services protected by GDPR, while others turn to open source tools that put transparency first. We’ve put together a list of solid alternatives for everything from email to maps.
We all depend on our devices – for work, for school, for staying connected with friends and family, and keeping up with daily life. When the latest model of phones, laptops, tablets and other gadgets become available, we are often tempted to upgrade, even if our current device works just fine. Big companies rely on this constant cycle of consumer desire for the next best thing to drive their massive profits. But with that comes the increasing problem of electronic waste, or e-waste. When we upgrade to the latest model, what happens to the old one?
The answer is that discarded electronics end up in landfills or are shipped off to developing countries, often in spite of going through proper recycling channels. The burden of managing the environmental consequences of this waste disproportionately falls on poorer countries. Below, we discuss the devastating impacts of e-waste and the environmental crisis it has caused, and the efforts to mitigate the harmful effects.
In our previous post on the AI Act, we concluded with a remark concerning the AI Act and the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation): Are the two regulations aligned, or are there contradictions?
In this post we want to explore this question.
NOTE: When speaking about personal data and data subjects in the following, it is in the context of the GDPR. In addition, our concerns about AI and GDPR are mainly directed at general-purpose AI systems (GPAI-systems)where large amounts of (scraped) data is used to train the GPAI-modelon which the GPAI-system is built. (See box F below for exact definitions.)
The scope of the AI Act is comprehensive – it applies to any actor and user of AI systems within the jurisdiction of the European Union law, regardless of the actor’s country of residence.
As the GDPR, the AI Act is a regulation, contrary to a directive, which means that EU member countries have to implement it in their own legislation with only minor adaptive changes. The AI Act has EEA (European Economic Area) relevance as well, which means that the AI Act has to be implemented in Norwegian legislation – as the GDPR was.
Intersection between AI and Privacy regulation [Source]
The diagram shown illustrates the situation: There are some obvious overlaps because AI systems may process personal data, and so GDPR principles apply.
On that basis, we could say “end of story” and “case closed”. However, there are some differences and potential conflicts, making it worthwhile to spend some time on the issue.
It is beyond the scope of this blog post to cover all aspects of the issue at hand, so let’s discuss the fundamentals, with what’s most relevant to Runbox in mind.
At Runbox, we pride ourselves on offering personalized support. We are employee owned, which means our team is truly invested in your success. We know how crucial your inbox is, and we believe that fast, effective support can make all the difference in your email experience. When you reach out, you’re communicating with real people, not chatbots or someone with a script. Our support team are co-owners of the company, and know the service inside and out. We genuinely care about helping you. Unlike big companies, where support can feel impersonal, we provide expert assistance tailored to your needs. Whether you’re facing a technical issue or need advice, we’re here to make sure your email works the way you want.
To all of our customers – thank you. Whether you’ve been with us from the start or have just joined the Runbox community, we’re truly honored that you have chosen us. It is your trust and loyalty that make our work possible.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has released a report exposing how Big Tech companies are overstepping privacy boundaries in their quest for user data. The report reveals the massive amount of personal information these companies collect, store, and profit from. Often, this is done without clear user consent or transparency. As concerns over data privacy grow, the report highlights the urgent need for stronger regulation and more responsible data practices.
In this blog post, we’ll break down the key findings of the FTC’s report and discuss how this overreach affects your privacy, along with what actions you can take to protect your data.
Key Findings of the FTC’s Report on Big Tech’s Data Practices
We’ve written before about domains and how you can use your own domain with Runbox. However, there are some considerations to be made before you decide to get a domain and it’s easy to overlook some of the responsibilities you might be taking on.
In this blog post we want to add some further details to the topic of registering and owning a domain based on some of the ongoing considerations (and problems) our own customers have had to face when managing their domains.
From the perspective of the general public and society as a whole, so-called Artificial Intelligence (AI) was largely invisible until OpenAI removed the veil over GPT-3.5/ChatGPT in 2022.
Since then, the interest and use of AI, and General Purpose AI (GPAI), has exploded. AI implementations are creeping in everywhere, to great benefit in many respects. However, the warning signs are many — manipulated images, fabricated conversations, falsified news stories, and fake video-presented events can lead to unforeseeable negative consequences, for instance in influencing democratic elections.
This is also the case when AI is used to make decisions, since we know that there is always a risk of “AI hallucinations” where AI software produces incorrect or misleading information.
This simplified outline can serve as background for the EU’s AI Act, whose purpose is to put a societal control over the use and influence of AI/GPAI in particular, and the big tech companies in general.
So let’s dig into the matter, with the aim to describe what EU AI Act is, and to clarify its consequences, if any, for Runbox.
