Three important changes in the procedure for using email service

In the first half of 2024, the university’s procedure for using the email service will be amended. The proposed amendments concern forwarding the ut.ee mailbox to external email addresses, archiving emails and managing the mailing list service. 

Forwarding of emails sent to the university’s email address to external email addresses 

Due to security concerns, the forwarding of ut.ee emails to external email addresses will be turned off, and all current email forwarding will be cancelled as of 29 January 2024 at 15:00. After 29 January, people who have forwarded emails can only read the emails in their ut.ee mailbox either on the webpage kiri.ut.ee or by adding the ut.ee mailbox to the email app on their smart device or computer.  

According to the Information Technology Office, 13,564 students and staff members had their ut.ee emails forwarded to a non-university email address at the end of October. They will all receive more detailed information about it by email. 

There are many reasons why email forwarding will be discontinued. Forwarding makes it difficult to identify fraudulent emails as they will likely be replied to from external email addresses. Users who view their emails from a non-university email server will not see any additional sender information in the university emails. In addition, the content of an email received in the university email address is forwarded to a third party, which could breach data protection requirements. 

Google will update its anti-spam policy and set new limits on the number of incoming emails. The number of emails forwarded from the university’s email addresses to Gmail will significantly exceed these limits. According to the Information Technology Office, this would lead to more frequent cases where the forwarded emails do not reach the non-university mailbox, and the user does not receive them. 

More information about turning off email forwarding and the answers to frequently asked questions are available on the Information Technology Office’s wiki pages. 

Guides

If you experience problems, feel free to contact IT helpdesk (737 5500, arvutiabi@ut.ee, https://it.ut.ee).

Archiving the emails of former staff and students 

So far, the university has committed to keeping an archive of all emails of staff and students who have left the university for two years after they leave. In light of Microsoft’s decision to change the amount of data available in the MS365 cloud service starting August 2024, the Rector’s Office decided to waive this commitment.  

In the future, emails will be archived for two years only for staff who have left the university. The students’ emails will be preserved until the end of the last semester of their studies, after which their accounts will be closed. This change will take effect on 18 March 2024.  

Managing the mailing list services 

So far, it has been possible to log in to the university’s mailing list server with any email address. From 29 January 2024, it will be possible only with the university’s user ID. This change also concerns external mailing list managers, who must apply for a guest account from the university’s IT helpdesk to log in. Non-university regular users do not have to log in and do not need an account to join or leave a mailing list. All external mailing list managers will receive more detailed information about it by email.

Next year, the university will sign written agreements with all external parties using the mailing list service and specify the external parties to whom the university may offer the service. 

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• 14.12.2023 "Chief information security officer explains amendments to the procedure for using email service"