With the easy-to-use email archive tool from IONOS, your emails are professionally and securely archived for you to access whenever you need them. You can add and automatically back up as many of your email accounts as you like. All incoming and outgoing emails from these accounts are automatically saved in their original state, including any attachments.
Accidentally deleted an important email? No problem. All of your email data can be easily found, recovered and restored via your archive. With an advanced search feature and one-click data recovery, you’ll never need to worry if you suddenly need to locate emails for business or legal reasons.
All existing messages within your inbox are archived once after the initial activation, with new messages automatically archived. You can also adjust third-party access and manage permission rights. Features such as eDiscovery and individual retention times help you to stay compliant, while implementing a legal hold on your archive is easy to do when the need to preserve content arises.
All emails are stored securely in our ISO-certified data centers.
Email Archiving from IONOS not only helps you recover emails, but more importantly, allows your business to continue operating as usual in times of malicious data breaches or accidental data loss. The powerful search tool and one-click recovery feature makes any lost message easy to find and to restore.
Choose one of our best-selling email plans and get Email Archiving bundled in.
5 GB storage
Automatic archiving
Restore emails
Works with any email account
Use with unlimited inboxes
Certified data centers
State and local taxes will apply. Click here for our General Terms and Conditions.
Maill
1 email account with 2 GB
Free domain
Ad-free email
Spam filter
Synchronized on all devices
Mail Archiving
5 GB storage
Automatic archiving
Restore emails
For any IONOS email account
Use with unlimited inboxes
Certified data centers
Maill
25 email accounts, each with 2 GB
Free domain
Ad-free email
Spam filter
Synchronized on all devices
Mail Archiving
5 GB storage
Automatic archiving
Restore emails
For any IONOS email account
Use with unlimited inboxes
Certified data centers
Maill
50 GB email account for each user
Free domain
Ad-free email
Premium virus protection and spam filter
Real-time sync of your data on all devices
Mail Archiving
5 GB storage
Automatic archiving
Restore emails
For any IONOS email account
Use with unlimited inboxes
Certified data centers
State and local taxes will apply. Click here for our General Terms and Conditions.
Add Email Archiving to your existing contract and use it with any or all of the email accounts you have registered with IONOS. Log in to your customer account to get started.
In this digital age, the shift away from paper and toward digital formats has created some confusion when it comes to rules and regulations regarding business email storage. Since these are virtual documents, companies can easily make the mistake of underestimating their importance and deleting them simply because they presume they aren't needed anymore. But doing so can lead to hefty fines (millions of dollars) or even criminal proceedings, as professional emails with commercial and/or legal content are considered, for all intents and purposes, documents that need to be stored carefully for a certain period of time.
Ten years ago, regulations were put into place that require all businesses to keep electronic records of business data, including emails. These email archiving laws in the United States require businesses to keep copies of emails for a specific period of time. These retention laws include federal laws that apply to all businesses and organizations, data retention laws that only apply to specific industries, and many email archiving laws that are state-specific. Examples of email retention laws that businesses must comply with include IRS Regulations, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) and the Freedom of Information Act. These laws require data to be properly archived so that it can be easily searched through if needed. Email archiving isn't just for convenience – it's a legal necessity. Using adequate archiving methods for storing digital documents ensures that business emails are properly preserved in full compliance with the regulations regarding quality, integrity, security, privacy and inalterability. Therefore, email archiving tools are optimal solutions that make it easier to comply with legal archiving requirements and at the same time keep all digital documentation safe.
The length of time an email needs to be kept for depends on the email retention law. The IRS Regulations apply to all companies and require emails to be stored for 7 years, and the same goes for the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. In general, the retention period ranges from one year (for credit card and related processing companies) up to a lifetime, depending on which industry is involved. Even if you're sure that your company is adhering to federal email retention policies, it's still a good idea to check with your legal representative to make sure your business is also complying with state and local government laws.
In principle, archiving emails of a commercial and/or legal nature is a task for all businesses in the US, without exception. Depending on the industry, some companies need to adhere to more email retention policies than others. Publicly traded companies, for instance, need to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, while healthcare and insurance providers must meet HIPAA requirements. It's of utmost importance to check which regulations are significant for your particular company or sector.
The ability to access and recover data is important for companies of all sizes. Your company can either rely on data backups or archiving, but what is the difference between the two? You need to find the best method of email retention for your company.
A backup is a copy of data, which can be used to restore the original in case your data is lost or damaged. Data loss can happen due to hardware failure, human error, or a natural disaster – saving your data with an email backup means you're prepared for these worst-case scenarios.
An archive is a collection of records that is stored long-term and can be accessed in the future if a certain piece of information is needed. Since archives usually contain data that isn't currently being used, it frees up space elsewhere, easing the burden on faster and more frequently accessed data storage systems. In other words, an archive holds original data that has been removed from its original location.
With the right software, you can manage legally compliant and audit-proof email archiving. If desired, you can add the email archive module to the IONOS Mail Basic and Mail Business packages and to all other IONOS products that include an email address such as web hosting and domain packages. Email archiving works whether you use IONOS Webmail or another email client such as Outlook. All emails are securely backed up, professionally archived with tamper-proof envelope journaling, and are searchable, discoverable and accessible in the event of a legal motion or audit.
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