Email forwarding involves a high risk of email fraud, data leakage or breach of data protection requirements. Forwarded emails also make it more difficult to identify fraudulent emails, as the email is likely to be replied to from a non-university email address, and the user will not be able to see any additional sender information on the non-university email server in the ut.ee emails. A user who forwards an email received at a university address to an external address may also be in breach of data protection requirements, as information intended for the university can end up in the possession of third persons.  

Furthermore, Google updated its anti-spam policy as of 1 February 2024 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 the new 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.

The University of Tartu uses the cloud-based Microsoft Online Exchange service as its email solution. University email can be read on the website https://kiri.ut.ee, as well as in other email applications like Mail, Thunderbird etc, not in Gmail!