Security, Policy, Access to deceased relative's account
Please note: It is a violation of University policy for any person to access another person's email account. Even if they are deceased, their privacy must be protected by University policy. The helpdesk is not able to facilitate someone gaining access to another person's account. However, a copy of the person's email can be provided with the appropriate approvals. Please review the options below and follow the procedure for the one that applies to your situation.
If there are legal questions, please consult this KB article: https://answers.uillinois.edu/illinois/internal/123704
Request from a department for business data from the email account of an individual who was active faculty/staff
For a University department to access the work-related emails of a deceased employee, please follow the Request for Access process as described here: https://answers.uillinois.edu/illinois/48321.
Request from a spouse/family member for personal data from the email account of an individual who was faculty/staff/retiree
Ongoing access to another person's email account is disallowed by University policy, but a copy of personal emails can be exported and provided to the requester. For access to the email of a deceased family member who worked for the University, please contact the Help Desk. They will assist you with this request.
Request from a spouse/family member for personal data from the email account of a student.
Ongoing access to another person's email account is disallowed by University policy, but a copy of personal emails can be exported and provided to the requester. The exported location will be maintained for 3 months, at which time it will be deleted.
This request should be initiated via an email to security@illinois.edu that clearly contains the following information:
- Proof of death (death certificate, obituary, etc)
- the name of the requester and relationship to the deceased individual.
- the name and NetID of the deceased individual.
- whether the full mailbox or only a certain time range is being requested.
- the email address of the individual who is to be provided the email export file. This file will be exported as an Outlook data file (a PST) and saved to a Box folder, which will then be shared with this individual.
If you need an out of office reply put on the account, or need any additional assistance, please contact the Help Desk.