Where are your company's emails stored, and why does it matter?

“Our emails are with our provider.” That’s the answer almost everyone gives. It’s true, but it’s only the first of three correct answers.

Where are my company’s emails stored?

Usually in three places:

1. On the provider’s server, and in its backups. This is the main copy, the one the contract describes.
2. On every device that reads the mail. Phones, laptops and office computers often keep a local copy so they work without a connection.
3. In third-party copies, created by connected apps or services: an email app that syncs through its maker’s cloud, an automatic forward to a private mailbox, an archiving service or an assistant that reads your mail to summarise it.

The third category is the one nobody chose on purpose, and the one worth looking for.

Why does it matter where my emails are stored?

Because every copy has its own rules. A company’s mailbox holds contracts, quotes, customer data and sometimes patient data.

• The law. Under Switzerland’s revised Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP), in force since 1 September 2023, anyone processing personal data must know which providers process it on their behalf, and where.
• Who is in control. The US CLOUD Act of 2018 allows US authorities to demand from an American provider the data it controls, wherever it is stored. What counts is who runs the service, not just where the disk sits.
• Who can delete. When an employee leaves or a mailbox is closed, the copies on devices and with third parties don’t disappear on their own.

What questions should I ask my email provider?

Five, and the answers should fit on one page:

1. Which country are the servers in, including the backup servers?
2. Which company controls the service, and which law is it subject to?
3. Who at the provider can access the mailboxes, and in which cases?
4. How long are backups kept, and what happens to the data if you cancel?
5. Can I export the whole mailbox with standard protocols, at any time?

If the provider can’t answer one of these clearly, you’ve already learnt something.

How do I find the copies I don’t know about?

Check three things, once a year:

• The email apps on company phones: some sync through their maker’s cloud, and say so on their own support pages.
• Automatic forwarding rules in the mailboxes: a forward to a private address is a copy outside your control.
• Services connected to your email: external calendars, archiving, assistants and apps that someone has given access to the mailbox.

Where are your emails with Akomodix?

On our server in Switzerland and on your devices, with no third-party copies in between. The platform runs on our own hardware, in Swiss data centres, run by a Swiss company. The Akomodix apps connect directly to the server, with no intermediate cloud, and with standard protocols you can always export the whole mailbox.

The three checks above, on the other hand, you can do this week, with the provider you already have. If you’d like a second opinion on the answers you get, write to us.