After decades of activity, the University of Minnesota is ending its “Emails for Life” program. Students, faculty, and staff who leave the university will now have to use new protocols to access their academic data.

According to an FAQ on the UMN website, the university cites outdated infrastructure as the main cause for the change. The increase in usage of emails, the escalating frequency of cyberattacks, and the costs associated with data storage all have contributed to the new policy. 

The change went into effect this summer. According to the university, people who leave the university after June 2, 2024, whose “Google Workspace accounts have been inactive (no one has signed in) more than one year will be closed and their contents will be deleted.” Those who have left the university before June 1, 2024, will have the option to transfer their data to a new “Alumni account.”

To create an alumni account, alumni will need their UMN ID and password, as well as a non-UMN email address. They will be offered for a limited time. Those who left the university before Nov. 17, 2023, will have until Dec. 7, 2024, to create an alumni account. Those who leave between Nov. 18, 2023, and June 1, 2024, will be able to create an alumni account until June 2025. 

This change in the program came after the university came under scrutiny last year when UMN revealed it was the victim of a massive data breach that affected students and employees who were affiliated with the university from 1989 to 2021. Information such as full names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and driver’s licenses was accessed by an unauthorized individual and claimed to be posted on the Internet. 

UMN administrators hope this change will provide more security to users’ data and cut server data costs.