Restriction on redirecting school email accounts

AMU is gradually implementing a restriction on redirecting school email accounts to addresses outside of AMU, for employees and teachers. In the article below, we would like to explain why we have decided to take this step, just like other universities in the Czech Republic.

Reasons for the restriction

Security

Our school email systems are designed to protect sensitive information about our students, employees, and the school itself. When you automatically redirect all your school emails to your addresses outside of AMU, you risk that this information will fall into the wrong hands. Other email accounts do not always have the same security measures as our systems, which increases the risk of data loss or misuse.

Legislative reasons

There are also legal reasons why we restrict email redirection. According to personal data protection laws (GDPR), we must ensure that all sensitive information is stored and processed in accordance with strict rules. Redirecting emails to addresses outside of AMU could lead to violations of these laws and potentially cause legal problems.

Deliverability and incident investigation

When using school email accounts, we have the ability to monitor whether messages have been delivered and investigate any security incidents. For example, we regularly monitor the capacity of your school mailboxes and if you are approaching its limit, we proactively address the situation with you. This allows us to quickly identify and resolve issues and ensure that all your messages are delivered safely and on time.

Implementation of the restriction

The restriction on redirection is based on Rector's Decree 04/2025 - Rules for the use of user accounts at AMU, Article 7 - Email communication, point 4.

It is implemented by a technical measure that prevents redirection to addresses outside of AMU from functioning. At the same time, all your existing redirections to email addresses outside of AMU are automatically canceled on the given date.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I get more information about the school mailbox and how can I access it?

More detailed information about the school mailbox can be found in the article dedicated to the Microsoft Outlook/Exchange service. To access the school mailbox, you can use Outlook on the web, the Outlook client for Windows, MacOS, Android, and iOS. You can also use third-party applications, but only those that support the Microsoft Exchange protocol.

If I don't work with the school mailbox daily, can I at least receive notifications about newly delivered emails to my email?

Unfortunately, our email system does not allow this, as it treats such a rule the same as redirection. This is a technical limitation of our system, not our intention.

We recommend setting up access to the school mailbox on your mobile phone. This way, you will be informed by notifications about newly incoming emails. For Android and Apple iOS, you can use the Outlook app, or use the integrated Gmail or Apple Mail apps. Instructions for installing the Outlook app on your mobile phone can be found here.

What happens if I set up redirection again even after it is automatically canceled?

The re-set redirection will not be functional, the system will not forward the email, and it will also inform the sender that the email sent to your school address could not be forwarded to your address outside of AMU. Such a notification can be confusing for the sender, so we do not recommend trying to set up redirection again.

I have set up redirection to another company email with a high level of security, can you keep the redirection functional for me?

Our email system only distinguishes between our internal addresses (all AMU domains) and all external addresses outside of AMU, whether they are private, company, or other institutions. The redirection restriction is therefore set in the system for all external addresses outside of AMU, which includes company addresses.

The main reason for this measure is to ensure security and information protection. Redirection to external addresses poses, for example, the risk that data sent from the sender's perspective only to our school will be automatically sent to another organization without sender's knowledge. Even if we believe that the organization would handle this data responsibly, from the perspective of laws and cybersecurity, it does not change the issue.

I often receive spam forwarded from the school email address, are the school email systems really safer?

Redirection of the received email is applied before the security check of this email - so first the email is redirected to your mailbox outside of AMU and only then it is checked by our system that decides how to handle it in your school mailbox. Therefore, spam is forwarded to your mailboxes, but in the school mailbox, you would mostly find it correctly marked in the Junk folder. And you won't find dangerous emails in the mailbox at all, as they are placed in quarantine.

What advanced security features does the school email system have?

The system can, for example, delete an email from all recipients retroactively, which was later found to be dangerous (e.g., phishing), and at the same time inform administrators that the user managed to open a dangerous link in the email before this action was performed. Depending on the nature of the malicious email, we can then proactively contact the user and take corrective measures if a dangerous attachment was downloaded or login credentials were entered on fraudulent pages.

Why is redirection still allowed for students if it is primarily about security?

Students generally do not come into contact with personal data of employees or other students of the school, nor do they use their school accounts in other school systems where they can change significant data.