This Earth Day, the theme “Our Power, Our Planet” reminds us that real change starts with the choices we make every day. Email is no exception: the average email generates about 4g of CO₂, and those with attachments can emit up to 50g—adding up to 410 million tons of CO2 from emails every year. Data center energy demands grew 12% over the last 5 years, with AI being a major driver, and most of these facilities still rely on fossil fuels to power our digital lives.
At Runbox, we believe in the power of individual and collective action. That’s why we’ve built an email service that runs on 100% renewable energy and double offsets for any remaining emissions, making your inbox not just private, but truly carbon-negative. While big tech grapples with rising emissions and vague sustainability claims, we’re transparent about our impact and committed to real change.
This Earth Day, take control of your digital footprint. By choosing Runbox, you’re not just sending emails—you’re supporting a movement for a cleaner, more ethical digital future. Together, we can turn “Our Power, Our Planet” into action, one email at a time.
As a Norwegian company, Runbox is occasionally asked how the U.S. CLOUD Act affects our users—and the answer is simple: it doesn’t. Unlike U.S.-based providers, we own our servers and operate under Norwegian law, ensuring your emails and personal data are fully protected by Norwegian law and GDPR. The CLOUD Act has no jurisdiction over Runbox or your information. Read on to learn how we keep your data safe.
At Runbox, we’ve spent the last 25 years operating on the principle that technology should serve humanity—not exploit it. Our commitment to sustainability, privacy, and transparency represents a core principle that defines how we serve our customers. This dedication has earned us the Ethical Consumer Best Buy designation since 2020, a rigorous independent recognition of our responsible and sustainable business practices.
Our approach stands in contrast to an industry that too often prioritizes profit over people. Many tech companies don’t just use your data—their entire business models rely on it, exploiting personal information at the expense of your privacy, the environment, and even democratic values. This unchecked collection and monetization of personal data doesn’t just undermine privacy—it erodes trust in digital systems, harms the environment through unsustainable practices, causes societal and psychological harm, and undermines the democratic values that protect individual freedoms. We believe technology should—and can—do better.
Recent reports reveal that some companies are handing over user data when served with a subpoena by authorities. At Runbox we monitor this trend with concern and want to take the opportunity to make it clear that we will not disclose user data to anyone unless certain very specific and stringent criteria are met.
A subpoena, warrant or request from any government or foreign agency is not enough to meet our requirements. If an entity requests access to any user data, Runbox will by principle respond by requesting a Norwegian court order pursuant to the Norwegian Criminal Procedure Act before disclosing any information.
Read on to learn how Norwegian privacy law protects your data and why it’s your best defense.
As a privacy-focused email service based in Norway, we believe that protecting the right to privacy isn’t just about safeguarding data. It’s also about defending the very essence of democracy. Privacy and free expression are what let us speak freely, challenge authority, and engage in society without fear – democracy can’t thrive without them. And without our active participation, the structures that uphold our freedoms lose their strength, and the principles we value start to disappear.
Without privacy, how safe is your right to speak your mind? How fair is the system if your personal information can be used against you? How free are you to take part in your community if you’re always looking over your shoulder? Privacy isn’t just another right – it’s the cornerstonethat protects all our other rights.
Because democracy is more than just the rule of law, free and fair elections or independent courts. It is also about the right to privacy. When privacy is weakened, everything else we value in a democracy starts to wobble. That’s why we at Runbox don’t just see privacy as a feature – we see it as a commitment to the principles that keep societies open, fair, and free.
Why This Moment Matters
The world is changing, and democracy is facing challenges we haven’t seen in a long time. We see leaders attempt to concentrate power, silence critics, and undermine the institutions that protect our freedoms. They do this by spreading fear, lies, and creating division. This weakens the trust we have in our institutions and the foundation of democracy itself.
Rising authoritarianism, threats to national sovereignty, and the erosion of democratic institutions are challenges that demand a response. When one country’s sovereignty is undermined – whether through coercion, surveillance, or military aggression – it sets a dangerous precedent for us all. Sovereignty and privacy are two sides of the same coin: sovereignty is a nation’s right to govern oneself; privacy is about the rights of individuals – both rely on the freedom to make their own choices, free from manipulation and control.
Yet, history shows us that democracy is resilient. It has survived wars, economic crises, and social upheavals – because people have chosen to defend it. The challenge today is no different. The decisions we make today – how we engage with each other, how we hold power to account and question authority, and how we speak up for the rights of all people – will shape the future of democracy.
The Pillars of Democracy and the Role of Privacy
Free Speech: The Oxygen of Democracy
Free speech isn’t just about having the right to say what you think, it’s also about having the space to do it without fear. But what is free speech if we worry that our words will be monitored, censored, or turned against us? Privacy is what creates the safe space where we can exercise our right to free speech. It lets us engage in open dialogue, explore new ideas, and speak truth to power, knowing we won’t face retaliation for speaking our minds.
Civic Participation: Democracy in Action
Democracy is not a spectator sport, it requires the active participation of all of us, whether we stay informed, vote, or organize in our community. Through Civic participation, we can hold leaders accountable, expose wrongdoings and advocate for our rights. But we cannot participate without the fear of surveillance, manipulation or suppression if our personal information isn’t protected. The right to privacy is the foundation that lets us engage freely in a democracy.
The Rule of Law: Fairness and Accountability
The rule of law is what ensures that all everyone – individuals, corporations, and governments – are held to the same standards. Laws exist to protect our rights, they guarantee fairness, and they prevent the abuse of power. Without strong privacy laws, our personal data can easily be exploited by governments and corporations – to distort justice, suppress dissent and opposition, and undermine fairness. Privacy laws serve as a critical safeguard for our privacy.
Standing Together
For us at Runbox, it’s about more than keeping emails private and secure – we believe that privacy is a fundamental democratic right that allows us all to speak our minds and act freely, without fear of surveillance or interference. Privacy empowers people to hold power to account, and participate in civic life without fear of retaliation. It’s what keeps the rule of law transparent and equitable – serving everyone, not just those in power.
In Norway, we are fortunate to live in a society where democratic values are deeply ingrained. However, democracy is not a given – it is a shared responsibility. Its future depends on our willingness and commitment to protect it. By standing together – governments, individuals, and businesses – we can help ensure that these important values remain strong and continue to thrive.
In October 2000, a small email service was born far to the north in Oslo, Norway. Our mission from the start was clear – to create innovative tools that bring people together in meaningful, enjoyable ways – and to provide a lasting home for their digital conversations.
Over the years, we’ve grown not only in scope but also in purpose. Inspired by our Norwegian heritage, our mission has expanded to champion privacy, data security, and sustainability – delivering services powered by our country’s abundant renewable energy.
At our core, we remain committed to offering premium, secure, and eco-conscious email services at accessible prices available to everyone. That’s why we are excited to announce that our popular 3-year plans are now available for sub-accounts too!
Whether you’re managing email accounts for your family, small business or organization, you can now enjoy the same long-term savings and peace of mind for all your sub-accounts. No more annual renewals, no more hassle – just seamless, secure email service.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become the defining technological story of the 2020s. Generative models like ChatGPT, MidJourney, and Claude have captured the public imagination, fueled multi-billion-dollar corporate investment, and triggered widespread debate over the future of work, creativity, and economic growth.
But with climbing valuations and increasingly grandiose narratives, a central question emerges: are we in the middle of a speculative bubble similar to the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, or is AI a transformative revolution ? We look at the parallels, explore how AI might be different, and outline how Runbox is approaching AI in the midst of this development.
Runbox is more than a private, secure email service – it’s email done ethically and sustainably. By choosing Runbox, you support transparency, social responsibility, and a carbon-negative digital future. Powered by renewable energy and guided by strong values, we ensure your communication leaves a minimal environmental footprint.
Our mission is to make digital communication a force for good. Together, we’re building an online world that’s trustworthy, sustainable, and principled — one email at a time.
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.
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.
