It is best practice to maintain a non-Mason email account for personal use. Mason provides information technology resources, including email, to support Mason's educational, research, and administrative needs.

Occasional incidental use of Mason's email for other purposes is permitted, but keep in mind the following:

• All email use must comply with the Responsible Use of Computing and Employees' Electronic Communications policies.
• Email may not be used for partisan political purposes, such as advertising for political candidates (see policy on Participation in Political Activities)
• Under Commonwealth of Virginia regulations, there is no expectation of privacy in electronic communications that use the university's information technology systems. Mason email is archived and subject to review under specific circumstances as detailed in Employees' Electronic Communications. This policy applies to both business and personal communications.
• If your Mason email account access is terminated or suspended for any reason, you lose access to all your messages.

ITS cannot recommend specific products for personal email accounts. However, commercial providers offer free (e.g., Hotmail and Gmail) and paid services, which Mason does not endorse or support, but users can independently consider for personal use based on their needs.