Concerns Arise as British Virgin Customers Worry about the Safety of Email Archives

Many Brits are concerned about the loss of their email archives following a prolonged email server outage at telecommunications provider Virgin Media. The company, which is the largest cable provider in Great Britain with millions of mobile customers, experienced a hardware damage that led to the disruption. While the company assures that previously saved emails are safe, access to them is still being worked on. After two weeks, Virgin customers can now send and receive emails again, but a small proportion of affected customers are still unable to view their historical emails.

Virgin Media, which is jointly owned by Liberty Global and Telefónica, has apologized for the inconvenience and has been working to restore the email inboxes as soon as possible. The company emphasizes that no third parties have accessed the data and there has been no security breach. However, it is unclear why it is taking longer than expected to fully restore normal operations.

Many experts suggest using provider-agnostic email accounts for consumers, as it is more beneficial in the long run. This allows users to avoid changing their email address when switching internet service providers. Additionally, using an independent email service with your own internet domain provides continuous availability and the flexibility to quickly move your email inbox in the event of disruptions or changes in data protection regulations.

Furthermore, it is advisable to use an email program instead of webmail, as it keeps a copy of the sent and received emails on your own devices. This ensures access to your data even if the cloud storage becomes inaccessible or experiences issues.

Overall, the email server outage at Virgin Media has raised concerns among customers about the safety and availability of their email archives. While the company is working to resolve the issue, it serves as a reminder for users to consider alternative options for their email services to ensure continuous access and control over their data.