Export ban compliance turns into geo-location gaffe fest
Following changes in the way it figures out where people are located, US-based Slack informed an undisclosed number of individuals this week that they’re no longer welcome on the chat app, due to America’s export controls and sanctions.
On Thursday, various Slack users took to Twitter to share account closure notices they had just received from Slack HQ. The emails cited US Commerce Department and US Treasury Department regulations, which prohibit providing services to individuals in countries under US sanctions, including Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and the Crimean region of Ukraine.
Essentially, folks are being kicked off Slack because they are believed to be in one of the banned nations, and Slack, being based in the US, is forbidden from providing stuff to people in those countries. So if you access Slack from an Iranian IP address, it’s goodbye to your account.
In an email to The Register, a Slack spokesperson explained, «Slack complies with the US regulations related to embargoed countries and regions. We updated our system for applying geolocation information, which relies on IP addresses, and that led to the deactivations for accounts tied to embargoed countries.
