Sub-addressing (plus addressing)

September 18, 2018 Leave a comment

In the last blog post we outlined how you can use aliases to help organise you email, and also how they can help you deal with unsolicited or marketing email. Aliases offer alternative addresses for your account so that you don’t have to use the same address for everything. However, there is a quicker way to create new addresses on your account that doesn’t need you to log in to your account and set anything up. This is sub-addressing (sometimes called plus addressing or tagged addressing).

Sub-addressing has a big plus

The key to sub-addressing is including a + and some text after it (called the tag). This goes after the username and before the @ symbol.

When our mail servers see this for incoming mail it knows that everything before the + is the username and so it can still deliver to the correct account.

Even though the mail system delivers to your usual account, the message is still addressed to username+tag@nullrunbox.com and you can use this in various ways. Sub-addressing had a lot of uses and is easy to use.

  • just make up the addresses as you go along without the need to set them up in your Runbox account.
  • use a sub-address for anything where you might want to identify the place where you used your email address.
  • use a different tag for each online website you sign up for so that if one leaks your address you know which one.
  • create a filter to delete email to that particular sub-address if it starts receiving spam.
  • filter email to specific folders based on the sub-addressing.

Works with all usernames and aliases

Sub-addressing works with all the Runbox domains, with your own domain if you using one, and with aliases (e.g. alias+tag@nullrunbox.com).

Unlike aliases you can’t delete a email address in this format, because you never set it up in the first place. If you do get unwanted mail to an address in this sub-address format you can deal with it in two ways.

  • use a filter in your Runbox account to delete it or filter it to spam.
  • if it is set up on an alias delete the alias, but this means that any other sub-addresses using that alias will also stop working.

Something else you should know

Although sub-addressing is part of the official specification for email systems, not all email providers implement it. That might mean some websites will not accept an email address with a + in it, and some email services may not allow sending to addresses in that format. If you do come across problems, please let the website or email provider know that they could be supporting this useful address format. If you prefer, let us know and we will try to get in touch with them.

The good news is that most major email services (and those that like to do things properly) do use sub-addressing and this means you are not likely to come across problems very often.

If you need any help with sub-addressing please take a look at our help page about sub-addressing, or contact Runbox Support.

Continue Reading →

New domain registration and renewal service

August 23, 2018 2 Comments

We are pleased to announce that we have launched a new domain registration and renewal interface.

It can be found in Account > Domain Registration, and aside from the improved user experience it now uses individual prices based on the top-level domain instead of a system based on domain credits.

Continue reading to find out more, and how if may affect you if you already host your domain name with Runbox.

What is new?

In recent years the domain registration industry has changed very significantly, and there are now hundreds of Top Level Domain (TLD) extensions available (TLD examples are .com, .org and .pro etc.). Pricing varies very considerably from one type of TLD to another. More recently there has been a significant increase in the registration and renewal prices for certain common TLD extensions, and this has made the system we currently use unsustainable for the future.

For many years we operated a domain registration service based on the idea of domain credits. The intention was that one domain credit allowed you to register one domain for one year. With the changes mentioned above we were forced to change how we price and register domains, and we will no longer be using a domain credit system.

We have now launched a new domain registration service where domain TLDs are priced on an individual basis. In many cases the prices will be unchanged or will in fact be lower. However, in some cases the prices will increase to reflect the recent changes.

How does this affect me?

If you don’t already host a domain name with Runbox, then you will just have a better experience if you choose to do so.

If you do host one or more domain names with Runbox, then there are a few changes to be aware of.

  • The existing domain credit(s) you have used to pay for your domain name will be replaced with new products according to the TLD of your domain name. The next time you renew your domain, you will be using the new product instead of domain credits. You can see the pricing for your renewal by going to Domain Hosting in your account and clicking on the renew option.
  • If you have used PayPal to pay for domain credits, and the payments recurred automatically, then we will cancel the recurring agreements to avoid you inadvertently paying for a product you no longer need. You can then pay manually for the new TLD product, and will receive a payment reminder about this.
  • Because of the changes to domain name pricing mentioned above, the Max subscription will no longer include a domain name. If you are hosting a domain name with a Max subscription you will receive a separate email about this.

Continue Reading →

Improving Payments with Stripe

August 16, 2018 2 Comments

As part of an ongoing effort to modernize our payment processes, we have changed our primary card payment processor to Stripe. This will allow us to offer a more streamlined and modern payment experience for customers.

In addition to accepting cards issued via Visa and MasterCard, for the first time with Runbox you can now pay directly using American Express cards. We are also now able to to offer Apple Pay, Google Pay and Microsoft Pay as payment options.

Making this change will result in more reliable payments, and along with other changes in our payment system will give us greater flexibility in helping customers who need to change the products they have with us.

Being our main card processor will also make Stripe the primary route by which automatic renewals are processed, and other methods will gradually be phased out. We have other changes planned for the future that will simplify choosing the products you need.

If you have any questions about these changes, please contact Runbox Support.

Continue Reading →

Runbox 7 Webmail beta test update

July 27, 2018 5 Comments

Runbox 7The Runbox 7 Webmail beta test is progressing quickly and the new webmail app has been updated with many new features since our previous blog post. If you are an existing beta tester and haven’t checked in for a while, we encourage you to do so now!

If you haven’t joined the beta test it’s still possible to participate — just send an email to support@nullrunbox.com with the subject “Runbox 7 Webmail beta test”.

Aside from many improvements to the speed and smoothness of the core functionality, the following features have been added or improved:

  • Drag and drop of messages
  • HTML message handling
  • Resizable folder pane
  • Resizable message preview pane
  • Both horizontal and vertical (3-pane) message preview pane
  • Mobile phone screen improvements
  • Automatic and manual adjustment of message list width
  • Support for sending inline images
  • Multi-message selection
  • Buttons for read/unread, flag/unflag, and report spam/not spam
  • Print version of messages
  • Show folder column in search results
  • Show read and flagged status in message list
  • Pre-load and cache messages in message list view for faster access
  • New font face and message layout

We are working hard to improve the Runbox 7 Webmail further, and appreciate your help in making it the fastest webmail app on the planet!

Check out the screenshots below to see some of the new features.

New look and new font face

The webmail has been updated with more colors and a new font face for improved legibility.

2- or 3-pane message preview

You can now preview messages either in a horizontal pane beneath the message list, or to the right of the message list as shown below.

Toggle horizontal/vertical message preview pane

Easily switch between horizontal (2-pane) and vertical (3-pane) message preview with these buttons in the message toolbar.

Message toolbar

There is now a fully featured message toolbar including Reply, Reply all, Forward, Move to folder, Mark  read, Mark flagged, Report as spam, and Move to Trash.

On the right hand side you will find message view buttons such as Print, Vertical/Horizontal preview, Full height, and Close.

Adjust message list columns

You can now easily adjust both the folder pane width and the message list column widths by using the sliders as shown.

Otherwise the webmail will automatically adjust the column widths to show as much content as possible.

Continue Reading →

Removing Customer IP Addresses

July 24, 2018 1 Comment

We are pleased to announce that we no longer include customer IP (Internet Protocol) addresses in outgoing mail headers when you are using our SMTP service. The SMTP service is what you use if you are using an email program like Outlook, Apple Mail, Thunderbird or other similar programs on a laptop, desktop or mobile device.

This brings our SMTP service in line with our webmail service where we haven’t included the customer IP address for a few years now.

Removing the IP address of your Internet connection can help improve your privacy as IP addresses can sometimes be used to identify your geographical location, and might be accurate to a particular town or city (though often they are much less accurate that this).

If you have any further questions about this please contact Runbox Support.

Continue Reading →

“Drop Gmail, Outlook, and iCloud: Norwegian challenger clearly best on privacy”

June 21, 2018 1 Comment

Runbox is hailed in a major Norwegian news outlet for providing superior privacy protection.

The article is based on a study by Vienna University of Business and Economics, which compares Runbox to 4 other major email services.

Gmail is slammed in the same article for its poor default privacy settings and a pattern of privacy violations.

Comparison of email providersIn the study, Runbox scores high in all categories:

  • Informational Control: 7/7
  • Decisional Control: 7/7
  • Behavioral Control: 6/7
  • Privacy Friendly Defaults: 7/7
  • Technology Paternalism: 5/7
  • Privacy By Design: 6/7
  • Service Appeal: 5/7

At Runbox we are very happy with this increasing focus on privacy, which supports our long-held privacy commitment and our work on compliancy with EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.

The full digi.no article (in Norwegian) can be seen below in PDF format.

Loading...

Continue Reading →

New Terms of Service and Privacy Policy in effect

May 25, 2018 5 Comments

As announced one month ago, our new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy implementing the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) take effect today.

The GDPR is a set of regulations declaring that the individual should have control over their personal data by specifying how such data may be collected, processed, and stored.

Important principles include that personal data must be processed lawfully, for legitimate purposes, and with explicit consent from the user.

Runbox’ privacy commitment

Runbox has always been committed to the privacy of our users, and the GDPR principles are now fully integrated into our Privacy Policy. It provides a comprehensive overview of the policies that govern your privacy as a Runbox user, and describes in an accessible way the types of data Runbox collects in order to responsibly and reliably operate an email service.

It also lays out how user data are processed and stored, how they are being protected, and what rights you have as a user of our services.

To find out more about our GDPR implementation, please see our previous blog post GDPR and Updates to our Terms and Policies.

Review the new terms and policies

If you haven’t already done so we ask that you review the revised terms and policies now, and invite you to contact us with any questions or concerns.

If you are already a Runbox user or customer you have already actively consented to our Terms of Service when registering a Runbox account, and you do not need to consent again now to the new version.

As a new Runbox user you will have the opportunity to consent to the terms and policies when registering your account.

Continue Reading →

Vulnerabilities in PGP and S/MIME

May 23, 2018 2 Comments

We have been following a story that appeared recently about vulnerabilities in PGP and S/MIME that can cause a leak of the plaintext content of encrypted emails.

A technical description of the vulnerabilities can be found at https://efail.de/

There are a number of possible mitigations for the vulnerabilities, and they vary in how much they might impact your use of encryption. As we have help pages about how to use encryption with email, we felt we should let you know about these particular vulnerabilities.

Continue Reading →

GDPR and Updates to our Terms and Policies

April 25, 2018 2 Comments

On May 25, 2018 the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) takes effect in all countries in the European Economic Area (EEA).

Norway, where Runbox is located, is part of the EEA and is implementing these regulations through its own legislation.

We welcome these new regulations as they greatly strengthen the rights of the individual to digital privacy and security, which we always have promoted and supported.

What is the GDPR?

The GDPR is a set of regulations declaring that the individual should have control over their personal data by specifying how such data may be collected, processed, and stored.

The regulations require that businesses and organizations integrate this right into their business practices through policies, procedures, and technologies that safeguard the users’ privacy.

Important principles are that personal data are processed lawfully, for legitimate purposes, and with explicit consent from the user. This means that your personal data can only be collected with your permission.

The regulation also sets forth a number of rights on the part of users of digital services:

  • The right to transparency about how data is processed.
  • The right to access and information about collected data.
  • The right to rectify stored data.
  • The right to erase data (“right to be forgotten”).
  • The right to restriction of processing.
  • The right to data portability.

GDPR also recognizes the term “privacy by design”, which means that privacy shall be considered in all circumstances when personal data is processed or stored. By also introducing “privacy by default”, GDPR states that appropriate measures must be implemented to ensure that personal data collected is only used for the specific purpose for which the consent is given.

How does Runbox implement the GDPR?

At Runbox we believe that the privacy and security of your data is essential, and that it’s important for you to be aware of your rights and your options when it comes to your personal data.

Runbox has therefore been working on the implementation of the GDPR throughout our organization and our services over the past three years.

The activities that implement the GDPR in Runbox can be divided into 3 main areas:

  • Internal policies and procedures
  • Partners and contractors
  • Protection of users’ rights

The first two areas include documentation of information security management and internal policies and procedures, as well as data processing and confidentiality agreements with our partners, contractors, and staff.

The third area relates directly to you as a Runbox user, and includes the terms and policies that govern your use of our services, how we aim to inform and educate our users about privacy, and how we are implementing tools and utilities that safeguard your privacy rights.

Runbox’ main areas of GDPR implementationRunbox' GDPR Implementation

Revised Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

As part of our GDPR implementation the Runbox Terms of Service and Privacy Policy have been revised:

While the Terms of Service has only been updated with minor changes, the Privacy Policy has been restructured and amended. It provides a comprehensive overview of the policies that govern your privacy as a Runbox user, and describes in an accessible way the types of data Runbox collects in order to responsibly and reliably operate an email service.

It also lays out how user data are processed and stored, how they are being protected, and what rights you have as a user of our services.

It’s important to us that you are informed about your rights and your options with regards to your privacy. We ask that you review the revised terms and policies by May 25, 2018 when they take effect, and invite you to contact us with any questions or concerns.

Continue Reading →