Fastmail is the latest email provider to be blocked by Russia this past year after the country blocked access to many email services. While we don't h

Fastmail Accounts Blocked in Russia, Here's What We Know

submited by

Style Pass

2021-06-09 10:30:09

Fastmail is the latest email provider to be blocked by Russia this past year after the country blocked access to many email services.

While we don't have many customers in Russia, we strive to make Fastmail's privacy-first email service available to as many people as possible. So, we challenged an order from the Russian Government to comply with data laws that we don't think are in the best interest of our customers. Unfortunately, like many other email and internet service providers, we lost our case, and as a result Fastmail subscriptions will no longer be available for purchase in Russia.

In July 2020, the Russian media regulation body, the Roskomnadzor, demanded that Fastmail comply with Russian data laws. This is because Russia has a national goal of controlling the flow of information within their borders. As a result, they want our business to place a server physically within their country, register a local business entity, and become subject to their data access regime.

If we didn't comply, they stated they had the right to block our website (and possibly all data transmission) between us and anyone within Russian borders.