Your mail via the Microsoft Cloud: the privacy choice

If you add your WebOké email address to the new Outlook or the Outlook app, Outlook doesn't fetch your mail from our server itself. Microsoft calls this "syncing your account with the Microsoft Cloud". It's good to know what that means, so you can make an informed choice.

What exactly happens?

1. You enter your email address, your password and the server details in Outlook.
2. Outlook passes those details on to Microsoft. A Microsoft server logs in to our mail server on your behalf.
3. Microsoft stores a copy of your mail in its own data centres. According to Microsoft, this covers your mail and, where possible, your calendar and contacts.
4. The new Outlook on your computer or the app on your phone then talks to Microsoft, no longer to our server.

Microsoft itself states that the Microsoft Services Agreement and the Microsoft Privacy Statement apply to that synced data. The WebOké terms continue to apply to the mail on our server.

What will you notice?

• Delays. New mail sometimes only appears after a while, because Microsoft has to fetch it first.
• Vague error messages. If Microsoft can't log in, you often only see that something went wrong. Not whether it's your password, the server or the port.
• Logins from Microsoft servers. Our server sees the login attempts coming from Microsoft, not from your internet connection.
• No choice. For the new Outlook for Windows and the Outlook app, Microsoft doesn't describe any way to turn this off. If you don't give permission, you can't add your account.

Is that a problem?

That's up to you. For many people it's not an issue. But do you work with sensitive data, for example in healthcare, law or government, or have you made agreements about where your organisation's mail is stored? Then you may not want a copy to end up at Microsoft. If needed, check with the person responsible for GDPR in your organisation.

You can read more background in our blog Outlook: a privacy nightmare and in the lesson Outlook: new and classic.

Don't want a copy at Microsoft?

• On Windows, use classic Outlook. It connects to our server directly (see Adding your email address to classic Outlook).
• On a Mac, choose to sync directly when adding your account in Outlook (see The Outlook app on your phone and Outlook for Mac), or use Apple Mail.
• On your phone, use the mail app that's already on your phone (see iPhone and iPad and Android and the Gmail app).
• Or choose a different email program, such as Thunderbird, or use webmail (see Opening webmail).