cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/21500261
If you’re not in Europe, move along. You’re stuffed and this thread can’t¹ help you.
European email self hosters--
Tech giants screw self-hosters over by crudely blocking email on the sole basis of IP address (e.g. if the IP is residential). Before 2016, we were as fucked as everyone (in fact worse b/c European ISPs tend to block² egress port 25).
Post 2016, we have the GDPR which has an Article 22 that gives us rights against Automated Individual Decision Making. It has become unlawful to profile people on a crude discriminatory basis without human intervention. The motherfuckers “predict” that you’re a baddy/spammer based on your personal information, which wholly consists of nothing more than your IP address. It’s as unsophisticated and prejudiced as it gets. They’re not using anything intelligent like spamassassin (as the cheap bastards want to save money for their greedy shareholders by reducing processing power at your expense).
Why let them get away with it? And unless you’re a boot-licker, you don’t dance for them either. Well, to some extent you may have to implement DKIM, SPF, DMARC, etc, but it’s debatable. Either way, you do you, and if in the end MS or Google or whatever imperial tech giant empire blocks you from sending email to their server on the blunt basis of your IP address, consider filing an Art.77 complaint to the relevant DPA citing Art.22 violations.
¹ Exceptionally, some non-EU regions have created their own variant of the GDPR like Brazil and some US states (e.g. CCPA in California). But AFAIK, they are all very watered down, weak and mostly useless. Just there for show. I don’t imagine that Art.22 sentiment has been adopted outside of Europe but plz correct me if I am wrong.
² If egress port 22 is blocked by your ISP, then you’re probably fucked anyway but there are some tricks to get the block disabled (free and non-free).
It means that for more than 30 days, you'll be unable to send or receive emails that have to do with that email provider. Not being able to send emails can be a bit annoying, but not being able to receive them gets really problematic. Doesn't it mean that when someone is trying to send you an email, they'll just get a message telling that the message cannot be delivered because the address does not exist? That would mean people cannot reliably send you email.
And also, it means that you might need to wait a month to be able to reply to an email using your own address.
I’m not sure how you arrive at that. Whether you file a GDPR Art.77 complaint is independent of how you ultimately decide to reach the other party.
This is not what I would do but this is what most activists would do:
The fact that your webmail provider can reach MS does not obviate your Art.77 complaint.
Personally, I have indeed quit sending email. When I need to reach an MS recipient, I use fax or snail mail and I do not give them an email address, thus forcing them to respond by snail mail. Most people will not elevate ethics above convenience like that, but to each his own.
That’s a separate matter and it depends on what email address you supply. You can attempt to send from your own server using any email address you want, even an @gmail.com address if that’s your thing. The email address you share with the other party need not be one that associates to your mail server.
I personally do not even share an email address with MS users, so those users can only reach me by postal mail. But of course this move requires a higher level of discipline on your part.