Alumni Email Service
Alumni Email Service FAQ
What is included with Berkeley’s Alumni Email Service?
Berkeley currently allows alumni to renew the active @berkeley.edu Google account they had as a former student, employee, or participant in a prior Alumni Email Service. These accounts allow 5 GB of total storage (including all Gmail, Drive & Photos). More information about the limitations to the @berkeley.edu Google accounts provided to alumni can be found at Alumni Email Changes.
Is my @berkeley.edu Google account guaranteed for life?
No. Campus is committed to maintaining ways for alumni to stay engaged with Berkeley. We will continue to evaluate whether this service is an effective way of achieving that goal. The Alumni Email Service is provided as a privilege and is subject to additional changes.
Will the Alumni Email Service cost money and can I buy more storage?
No. Email services for alumni are currently funded by UC Berkeley as a privilege and limited benefit to alumni. There are no charges to alumni for using the alumni email service. All UC Berkeley Google accounts provided to alumni will be limited to 5 GB of total storage.
Alumni can not purchase additional storage or use storage purchased directly from Google with their UC Berkeley Google accounts.
Who is eligible to renew their @berkeley.edu Google account as an Alumni?
- Former students are eligible to renew during your grace period
- If you are an alum and also a recently separated employee, you can renew during your employee grace period
What address do I use to login when I renew?
- Enter the email address provided in the To: field of this message to login to Google.
- Enter your CalNet ID and Passphrase when presented with the CalNet Authentication Service page.
- The part before the @ symbol in the To: field of this message is your CalNet ID
- You can Reset Passphrase(link is external) if you can no longer remember it.
- Check the Email(link is external) section of your Google profile to see all of your alternate email addresses.
I keep seeing "html not found" or "404" when I go to the link provided.
This is a common error when you're already signed into a personal gmail account. Instead of logging out of your personal account, you can open an Incognito Window on Google Chrome or Private Window in Safari/Microsoft Edge/FireFox to access the form: https://sites.google.com/berkeley.edu/alumni-email/home
You should then be asked to login with a Google account in which you'll use your @berkeley.edu account (not @cal.berkeley.edu or any other alias). Then you should be prompted to authenticate with CalNet ID and passphrase to proceed to where you can submit your alumni email renewal form.
Why is my @berkeley.edu Google account more limited than a free consumer Google account?
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Control costs: Berkeley needs to manage the additional costs associated with the new storage pricing model offered to Google Workspace Education customers.
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Manage risks and threats: Berkeley needs to manage the security and reputational risks and threats posed by unattended and possibly compromised alumni email accounts.
Can Alumni who don’t have an active @berkeley.edu Google account still get one?
No. Only alumni with existing, active @berkeley.edu Google accounts are eligible to renew their service.
Can Alumni who don’t have an active CalNet ID and passphrase renew an @berkeley.edu Google account?
No. Only alumni with an active CalNet ID and passphrase can renew an @berkeley.edu Google account.
What can I use my @berkeley.edu Google account for and what should I avoid?
Many alumni value continued access to their berkeley.edu email address as a way to identify themselves as Berkeley graduates. Communicating between alumni and using it for job searches are two common ways alumni use their accounts.
Things to avoid:
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Sending unsolicited email (SPAM) - even in relatively small numbers, sending SPAM can get your account blocked by Google. If your account is blocked, your account will be reviewed for abuse and can be subject to restrictions or revocation.
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Using as a login to other services - Signing up for and using your @berkeley.edu address for other consumer services should be avoided. These include, but are not limited to, personal banking/financial accounts and personal subscriptions like Amazon or Netflix.
Please refer to the Alumni Email Service Level Agreement for the exhaustive list of alumni responsibilities including adherence to policies and prohibited conduct
Will I be required to use 2-Step verification to login to my @berkeley.edu Google account?
Yes. If you already have CalNet 2-Step verification using DUO, you will be required to continue using it. Alumni who don’t yet have CalNet 2-Step will be contacted in late summer 2024 or early Fall 2024 with instructions on how to set up CalNet 2-Step.
I no longer need my @berkeley.edu Google account. What steps should I take?
Please review Leaving UC Berkeley and Graduating? Prevent Google Drive Content Loss to take the necessary steps to ensure you have retained any personal information you require and that you have properly transferred any data to others as appropriate. If you take no action, your account will be disabled and eventually deleted.
I've deleted lots of email but I can't get my storage usage to come down!
If you have deleted thousands of email and it seems like your Google Storage usage is not coming down, this could be due to a few things:
- First, confirm that email is where the majority of your storage usage is being used. As you are logged into your Berkeley Google account, click https://drive.google.com/settings/storage to check how much storage is being used by your email vs. your Google Drive files.
- When you delete thousands of emails at one time, Google will warn you that it may not delete them all at once and that it will be done in stages and may take longer. Sometimes we see this process fail and folks have to delete these emails more than once. Look for this message pop-up as you are deleting:
- You also need to empty your Trash. It may take several attempts to permanently delete the data in your Trash. Note that deleting a large number of data may cause an error. It is recommended to permanently delete your data in smaller batches if you have a significant number of them in your Trash. To permanently delete individual data from Trash, click trash from the sidebar and click the link Empty Trash Now:
- Once emptied, storage usage should decrease in about 24 hours. However, if you have deleted a significant amount of data, it may take two or more days for Google to accurately report your new storage usage.
- Please see Quickly Clean Out Your Berkeley Email and Reduce Your Google Storage for detailed instructions.
I’ve deleted everything in my account and it still shows high usage, and I’ve waited several days for my usage stats to update, but it hasn’t. What can I do?
Rarely, a connected app stores data in a “hidden” location within your Google Drive. You can check for these apps by visiting https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/settings . If you see anything that looks like it might be holding data you can use the dropdown “OPTIONS” menu on the right to “Delete hidden app data”. Make sure you don’t need the data before choosing this option. After doing so, you should see your storage decrease within a few hours.
I’ve moved all my content or deleted it from my UC Berkeley account, but my usage still shows the older, higher number. What’s wrong?
Sometimes it can take up to 72 hours for Google to update your storage usage statistics. If it still hasn’t updated in a couple of days, please let us know and we will investigate.
I’m trying to use Takeout/Transfer and it says it’s not available for my account/institution
Google can get confused when you’re logged into two accounts in the same browser profile. Try initiating the transfer using this URL instead - https://accounts.google.com/AccountChooser?continue=https%3A//takeout.go... which allows you to select your Berkeley account.
Please see Using Google Takeout and Google Transfer for more information.
I’m trying to use Google Takeout Transfer and it’s taking a really long time, failing, or not moving all of my content.
Unfortunately, if you are moving more than a small amount of data, it has a higher chance of failure. Since Google doesn't directly support Takeout Transfer, we recommend using VaultMe instead. It is guaranteed to work and has a dedicated support team. You can learn more about VaultMe here - https://www.vaultme.com/edu/ucberkeley
Please see Using Google Takeout and Google Transfer for more information.
How can I move my content to my personal Google Drive myself?
If you want to try moving your content yourself, we recommend using Google Drive for Desktop. This video explains the process. Keep in mind that you will still need to download all native Google files (docs, sheets, slides, etc) manually via Google Drive in the browser so that they are converted to usable Microsoft Office documents. Native Google Drive files cannot be downloaded via Drive for Desktop.
You can also consider using VaultMe instead. It is guaranteed to work and has a dedicated support team. You can learn more about VaultMe here - https://www.vaultme.com/edu/ucberkeley(link is external)
I’m trying to change ownership from my UC Berkeley alumni account to my personal Gmail account, but it says I don’t have permission to transfer ownership outside of the organization. How can I transfer ownership of my files to my personal account?
This is a limitation imposed by Google, so we cannot change this setting. Instead, you need to use Google Takeout, Google Takeout Transfer, or vaultme.com to transfer your content to your personal account. You can also manually download your content and then upload it to your personal account.
You can also refer to:
Current Students and Recent Graduates FAQs
Current Students and Recent Graduates FAQ
How can I learn more about the Alumni email service?
Visit the Alumni email service page for an overview.
What do I need to do to keep my @berkeley.edu Google account when I graduate?
Current students must wait until they complete their studies or graduate before renewing their @berkeley.edu Google account as an alum. They will be notified as their account enters its grace period.
All new graduates must complete the following steps before the end of their grace period to avoid any disruptions:
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Reduce your use of Google Storage to below 5GB.
What will happen if I don’t renew my @berkeley.edu Google account as an Alumni?
New Alumni who are still in their grace period as a former student
New alumni have until the the end of their grace period to renew their @berkeley.edu Google accounts. Failure to renew as a new alumni prior to the end of your grace period will result in your account being disabled and scheduled for deletion.
Existing Employees who also happen to be alumni
While an employee, you can not renew email services as an alum because @berkeley.edu Google accounts of existing employees are subject to different policies and have different features and quotas than Alumni. Existing employees who are alumni will be able to renew email services as an alum during the grace period provided them when they separate from the university.
What will happen if I don’t reduce my @berkeley.edu Google account storage before the end of my grace period?
The @berkeley.edu Google accounts for eligible alumni who do not reduce their Google account storage to below 5 GB before the end of their grace period will lose the following capabilities:
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Gmail: You will be unable to send or receive messages outside of UC Berkeley. Messages sent to you from outside of UC Berkeley are returned to the sender.
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Google Drive: You will be unable to sync or upload new files. You will be unable to create new files in Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, and Jamboard. Until you reduce the amount of storage you use, neither you nor anyone else can edit or copy your affected files. Syncs stop between your computer's Google Drive folder and My Drive.
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Google Photos: You will be unable to back up any photos or videos.
It is your responsibility to ensure campus does not lose access to important content and data when you leave campus. If you stored content and data on Google Drive that you shared with others, the content will be lost to campus after you leave even if the people you shared it with still need it. Follow these instructions to prevent the loss of data or files
Box
How do I transfer data from one Box account to another?
You can transfer files/folder ownership between Box accounts by following these instructions. Scroll down to the section "In Box, how do I transfer ownership of content to an organizational or group Box account?" and follow those steps to transfer files in your individual Box account into either SPA accounts. The top level account will be the owner of all the folders and files that are nested below, where usage is calculated against the owner account’s quota.
My data is appropriate to be stored in Box. How can I request a storage limit increase?
In order to receive a storage limit increase you'll need to complete this form.
- Please ensure that you are storing departmental data in SPA accounts rather than your personal account so that the data is not subject to the account lifecycle process.
- Note: Box is only approved for active data, not backups or archives - this is restricted by the terms of our contract with Box. If you are using Box for inactive data (archive or backup purposes) please let us know. (link sends e-mail) so that we can refer you to Research IT and they can assist you with a more appropriate storage location.
- Note: Box can't hold single files larger than 15GB. Please let us know. (link sends e-mail) if you have these as we'll need to work out a different solution with you. Box storage limit increases are given incrementally rather than all at once. In the future, if you need another increase, you can submit the form again.
How much storage am I allowed on Box?
For all Berkeley faculty, staff, and students, the following quotas apply:
- Individual Accounts: 50GB
- Special Purpose Accounts (SPAs): 500GB
How do I check how much storage I’m using in Box?
To see the usage in your Box account, go to https://berkeley.app.box.com/account, then scroll down to "Account Details" and look for "Storage Used". To see the usage in a SPA, log into Google or Box as that SPA, and then follow the link above.
What kind of data is appropriate to be stored in Box?
Box is approved for active files and content. Box should not be used for the purposes of backing up or archiving your data.
How do I create a SPA-owned Box account?
To create a SPA owned Box account, you will first need to create a SPA and then use that account to create the associated Box account. Create a SPA first, then create a Box account while logged in with the SPA.
General
General FAQs
What is a SPA and how do I know if I have one?
Special Purpose Accounts(link is external), or SPAs, are CalNet IDs that can be shared by multiple users for collaborative purposes. To view a list of SPAs you belong to, visit https://spa.berkeley.edu/spa
How much does VaultMe cost, and how do I get my discount?
If you visit https://www.vaultme.com/edu/ucberkeley and begin a migration, you will be able to go all the way through the migration settings and see the total cost, including your UC Berkeley-provided discount, before providing your payment details or completing starting your transfer. This is the most accurate way to get an estimate of your cost. Generally we estimate the cost around $33 per 100 GB.
Google Project
Google Project FAQs
What do I do when a file I use has a To Be Deleted warning label?
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If there are several files, or you need to keep the URL or sharing settings, you should move them all into a Shared Drive
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If you only need to keep a small number of files and the URLs and sharing don’t matter, You can make a copy of the file then save the copy (e.g. on your MyDrive, a Shared Drive or your computer)
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No content will be deleted prior to September 2024
Can a student create a Shared Drive?
No. However, if the student is working on a group project with a Lab or other research group, the faculty member can create the Shared Drive and the team members, including the student, can use it.
How can I learn more about what kind of data can be stored in Google Drive or other storage services at UC Berkeley?
If another account shares files with me in My Drive, do those files count against my storage limit?
No, they are attributed to the owner’s account.
What happens if I go over my individual storage limit?
If your individual account is over the limit Autumn 2024, you will not be able to edit existing documents or upload new items in Google Drive. Email will work normally. No content will be deleted. Once you remove content so that you are below your limit your account will go back to operating normally. You can find more information about the various storage limit banners and notifications in the Knowledge Base.
How will the storage limits work with SPAs and shared drives?
SPAs will need to reduce content in their My Drive space to be below 150 GB. Shared Drives that do not have a special arrangement in place will also need to be within 150 GB.
Who do I talk to if I think my circumstances are unique?
We are happy to consult with you. Please email us at google-storage-project@berkeley.eduto arrange a personal consultation.
How do the storage limits impact email?
If you are over quota, some services such as creating a new Google Doc may cease to function, however Gmail will continue to send and receive email normally.
In Gmail, when you attach something to an email, if that item is below 25 MB it stays in Gmail and applies to the Gmail portion of your overall usage. Larger attachments are saved in Google Drive and apply to the Drive portion of your overall usage. In both cases, the usage contributes to your overall quota.
Learn more about how Google stores email attachments and how you can manage storage.
If Berkeley IT can see how much storage I’m using, do they have access to my content and data?
On a day to day basis, we apply the model of privileged access, meaning we access the minimum of what is necessary in order to perform the requested or required task. We only access an account’s data without permission in very specific and rare cases such as legal holds. In those cases, we never look at the contents, but pull the requested information without further perusal.
Will you delete my data if I’m over the storage limit?
We always make absolutely every effort to communicate when content is at risk of deletion. Sometimes content can be automatically deleted as part of the account lifecycle, where we deactivate and then delete accounts that were used by people no longer affiliated with the university. If an account holder repeatedly ignores our attempt to contact them in order to assist with lowering usage and no engagement or reduction has occurred, we may consider deleting content in that account. It is our goal to never have to delete content on your behalf!
How do I check my Google account storage usage?
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To see the breakdown of usage in your Google account, go to https://drive.google.com/settings/storage.
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To see all the files in your Google MyDrive sorted by usage, go to https://drive.google.com/drive/quota.
- To find how much you are storing in your Shared Drive go to https://drive.google.com. Expand the “Shared drives” item in the left sidebar. Select the Shared Drive you’re interested in, and then Choose Info (small i in a circle) in the upper right hand corner. The Details information panel will open and you can scroll down to see the storage amount. Read More.
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To see the usage in a SPA, log into Google or Box as that SPA, and then follow the links above.
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Be sure you are logged into your Berkeley Google account, and not a personal Google account. To be sure, you can use a private or incognito browsing window.
What services do the storage limits apply to?
The quota applies to Google Drive, bMail, and Google Photos.
What will be the impact of the quotas on the campus community?
Only two percent of the campus population will see any impact based on the implementation of these new quotas. For almost all accounts, you can continue to work normally with Google services. We are actively engaging with account holders with 5 TB or more of content to assess and advise how to proceed. Future quota implementations should also only impact a very small percentage of the campus population and those impacted will be directly contacted via email.
What are the storage limits for Berkeley Google accounts?
Storage limits are being applied in multiple phases.
- July 5, 2023
- All newly created individual accounts had a 50 GB limit applied
- All individual accounts with 35 GB of content or less had a 50 GB limit applied.
- All individual accounts with 36 - 150 GB of content had a 150 GB extended limit applied.
- Autumn, 2024
- All SPA My Drives should have been reduced to 150 GB.
- All Shared Drives should have been reduced to 150 GB or have an Expanded Shared Drive or Pass Through Pay Option agreement in place.
- July 24, 2024
- All Alumni accounts must be reduced to 5 GB.
- See Alumni Email Accounts for more information.
- All individual accounts with more than 150 GB of content will maintain their current limit until further notice.
Security and Privacy
Can Google delete my data without my permission?
No, Google cannot delete your data without your permission. Data stored within core apps are protected under the contract between UC Berkeley and Google, and will not be deleted unless the user requests it. However, under certain circumstances Google reserves the right to suspend a user’s account for violation of terms of service that rise to the level of an “emergency security issue”. If Google were to suspend a user’s account without warning, they would be required to provide UC Berkeley with an explanation in a timely manner.
Will my data remain safe when it is being managed on the same servers as other Google customers?
Yes. Data is virtually protected as if it were on its own server. Unauthorized parties cannot access your data. Your competitors cannot access your data, and vice versa. In fact, all user accounts are protected via a virtual “lock and key” that ensures that one user cannot see another user's data. This is similar to how customer data is segmented in other shared infrastructures such as online banking applications.
How does Google protect its infrastructure against hackers and other threats?
Google, an established provider of web-based services has gone to great lengths to protect against threats. Google runs its data centers using custom hardware running a custom OS and file system. Each of these systems has been optimized for security and performance. The Google Security Team is working with external parties to constantly test and enhance security infrastructure to ensure it is impervious to external attackers. And because Google controls the entire stack running our systems, we are able to quickly respond to any threats or weaknesses that may emerge.
Google maintains a number of geographically distributed data centers. Google’s computing clusters are designed with resiliency and redundancy in mind, eliminating single points of failure and minimizing the impact of common equipment failures and environmental risks. Access to our data centers is restricted to authorized personnel.
How does Google protect UC Berkeley against spam, viruses and phishing attacks?
Google has one of the best spam blockers in the business, and it's integrated into Google Workspace. Spam is purged every 30 days. Google has built in virus checking, and they enforce checking of documents before allowing a user to download any message. Most computer viruses are contained in executable files, so standard virus detectors scan messages for executable files that appear to be viruses. Google helps block viruses in the most direct possible way: by not allowing users to receive executable files (such as files ending in .exe) that could contain damaging executable code; even if they are sent in a compressed (.zip, .tar, .tgz, .taz, .z, .gz) format.
Google supplies Chrome™ and Firefox® users with constantly updated filters against phishing and malware.
By combining advanced algorithms with reports about misleading pages from a number of sources, Google downloads to your browser a list of information about sites that may engage in phishing or contain malicious software. Safe Browsing is often able to automatically warn you when you encounter a page that's trying to trick you into disclosing personal information.
How long does Google keep UC Berkeley’s data?
Google believes that users should have control over their data. Google maintains multiple backup copies of users' content so that Google can recover data and restore accounts in case of errors or system failure. When you ask Google to delete messages and content, Google makes reasonable efforts to remove deleted information from our systems within a commercially reasonable amount of time. Learn more(link is external).
Who owns the data that UC Berkeley users put into Google Workspace?
Simply put, Google does not own UC Berkeley users’ data. Google does not take a position on whether the data belongs to the institution signing up for Apps, or the individual user, but it knows it doesn't belong to Google.* This means three key things:
Google won't share your data with others except as noted in Google’s Privacy Policy(link is external)
Google will keep your data as long as you require Google to keep it
Finally, you should be able to take your data with you(link is external) if you choose to use external services in conjunction with Google Workspace or stop using Google’s services altogether
*For specific questions about UC's intellectual properties and copyright policies, please refer to UCOP’s Copyright Resources.
Is my email accessed for security monitoring?
As a matter of campus practice, email is not accessed for security monitoring, however, UC Berkeley does monitor network traffic(link is external) in an attempt to ensure the security of all systems on the network.
By default, email messages sent to or from bConnected email accounts use encryption. When encrypted, sender and recipient information (To/From email addresses), subject lines, and message content are not visible, even if intercepted through monitoring. However, this level of email encryption can not be guaranteed throughout the Internet ecosystem, so email should not be considered a secure form of communication.
UC Berkeley’s information security monitoring practices are reviewed by a consultative campus governance(link is external) process, which balances security benefits with privacy concerns, enforces controls on the type of monitoring allowed, and limits how any data collected may be used. The UC Office of the President may mandate different monitoring practices under the Coordinated Monitoring and Threat Response Initiative(link is external).
How does Google handle law enforcement requests?
Google complies with valid legal processes seeking account information, such as search warrants, court orders, or subpoenas. Google attempts to notify users before turning over their data whenever possible and legally permissible. For more information, please see both the bConnected Transparency Report and the Google Transparency Report(link is external) for information regarding government requests for user data.
Does Google give third parties access to our data?
Google may only share information with third parties in conformity with Google’s Privacy Policy and Customer Agreement. Google does not share or reveal private user content such as email or personal information with third parties except as required by law (see the Google Transparency Report), on request by a user or system administrator, or to protect Google’s systems. These exceptions include requests by users that Google's support staff access their email messages in order to diagnose problems; when Google is required by law to do so; and when Google is compelled to disclose personal information because Google reasonably believes it's necessary in order to protect the rights, property or safety of Google, its users and the public.
Can Google monetize, sell, or otherwise use mail or data store in my bConnected Google account?
The agreement that UC Berkeley utilizes for its Google Workspace for Education Service (including bMail, bCal, Drive, and others) does not allow Google use of our data for any purposes other than to fulfill its obligations to deliver the service to us under our agreement. UC Berkeley does not believe that scanning for the purpose of serving ads anywhere is an allowed use under our agreement.
Will Google personnel read our emails, files and calendars?
No, Google’s scanning and indexing procedures are 100% automated and involve no human interaction. In order to provide some of the core features in Google Workspace, Google’s automated systems will scan and index some user content. Google scans or indexes user content in Google Apps in order to provide features that will either directly benefit users or help Google maintain the safety and security of their systems. For example:
Email is scanned so Google can perform spam filtering and virus detection
Priority Inbox, a Gmail feature, scans email message to identify which messages are considered important and which are considered not important
Note that there is no ad-related scanning or processing in Google Workspace for Education or Business with ads disabled
Some user data, such as documents and email messages, are scanned and indexed so users can privately search for information in their personal Google accounts
UC Berkeley Google data is not part of the general google.com index, except when you choose to publish information publicly.
How will my personal Google account be affected by my UC Berkeley Google account?
Your UC Berkeley Google account is managed separately from your personal Google account(s), therefore the data and settings from these accounts will remain separate. Only data that you manually copy between the accounts will be shared (e.g. if you send a personal email to your bMail account). If you use a personal Gmail account, in order to avoid confusion, it is best to use a different web browser to toggle between the two accounts. Using an “incognito” browser in Chrome™, for instance, may also help avoid confusing the two accounts.
What is the difference between privacy protection for UC Berkeley Google accounts and what is offered to consumers?
The University of California Office of the President (UCOP) negotiated a contract with Google, on behalf of the UC campuses. The contract UC Berkeley has in place with Google puts in place stronger protective measures around data stored and transmitted within the core apps: mail, calendar, contacts, drive, docs/sheets/slides/forms, and talk. Google consumer apps, such as Search, YouTube, Maps, etc., do not offer the same protections and are subject to Google’s standard terms of service. The main differences between services offered under UC Berkeley’s contract and Google include:
Data stored in core apps are not scanned for the purpose of displaying ads
Data stored in core apps are not accessed by non-core services
The same access restrictions to data in core apps applies to third party sites where Google is serving ads
An example of this protection would be if you sign into your bCal account, then proceed to Google Search to look for something. Ads displaying in Google Search results screen (a non-core service) will not be influenced by data in your calendar events (data in a core service).
If you were to use a personal Google consumer account, your data is not protected from sharing between any of the services offered, such as between Google Calendar and Google Search.
Google Workspace has received a satisfactory SSAE 16 and ISAE 3402 Type II audit, ISO 27018 Cloud Privacy Standard(link is external), and ISO 27001 certification(link is external). This means that an independent auditor has examined the controls protecting the data in Google Workspace (including logical security, privacy, Data Center security, etc) and provided reasonable assurance that these controls are in place and operating effectively.
For full text of UC Berkeley's contract with Google, please refer to UCOP Contract Database(link is external). Please note that to access UCOP Contract Database, your computer must be on UC Berkeley's network.
Can my UC Berkeley Google account(s) be used for personal events and communications?
UC Berkeley Google accounts are designed for institutional use; however, incidental personal use is acceptable as long as it complies with the University of California’s Electronic Communication Policy. Learn more about the Personal Use policy within UCOP Electronic Communication Policy, Section III.D.8.
What data can be stored in my UC Berkeley Google accounts (bMail, bCal, bDrive, etc.)?
In general, UC Berkeley Google accounts which include “core” apps: bCal, bMail, bDrive, bConnected Lists (Google Groups), Chat, Meet, and Contacts, can be used to store and transmit general(link is external) and Protection Level 3 data(link is external), as defined in the Data Use Agreement(link is external). Any consumer apps you choose to use (YouTube, Maps, Blogger, etc.) are only suitable for general(link is external) data. Read more about keeping sensitive data safe.
None of the apps within Google Workspace are suitable for storing and transmitting Protection Level 4 data(link is external), such as notice triggering data, human subject research data and other actively regulated data. For additional details on what types of data might or might not be suitable for Google Workspace, please refer to Data Use Agreement(link is external).
Storage Changes
Why are these services changing?
There is a larger industry trend towards eliminating “unlimited” offerings for cloud-based services. This has its roots in the fact that, unlike 5-10 years ago, storage costs are no longer rapidly decreasing. In fact, they have leveled off or increased in recent years.
How is Berkeley responding?
These changes from Google overlap with the similar changes Box announced last year, so we are taking a bigger picture look at the overall file storage and collaboration strategy for the entire campus. Our primary goal is to find the most cost effective solutions for storing and preserving the important data that is the lifeblood of the University, while maintaining the abilities of individuals and teams to continue to work productively in service of the University’s teaching, research, and public service mission.
How will we make decisions about these services?
Google and Box are both part of the campus’ Productivity Suite offering; any changes will be a part of our ongoing discussions with the campus about the governance and funding of Productivity Suite.
Why is the Berkeley Google service changing?
Google is eliminating the free and unlimited storage offering that they have provided to the K-12 and higher education community along with their rebranding from Google G Suite for Education to Google Workspace Education. We currently store 11.2 PB of data in our entire Google Workspace enterprise environment, and we will need to reduce our storage to below 2.6 PB or the university will be charged significant fees. We will have until November of 2024 to adjust our services accordingly.
How do I see my current storage usage in Google and Box?
To see the breakdown of usage in your Google account, go to https://drive.google.com/settings/storage
To see all the files in your Google MyDrive sorted by usage, go to https://drive.google.com/drive/quota
Box
To see the usage in your Box account, go to https://berkeley.app.box.com/account, then scroll down to "Account Details" and look for "Storage Used"
Usage by SPAs
To see the usage in a SPA, log into Google or Box as that SPA, and then follow the links above.
What do I need to do now?
Do
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Clean up: Delete any files, folders or email that you are confident you no longer need from Google and Box.
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Empty your Box and Google Trash: Deleted files in Google and Box are moved to the trash in Google and Box
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Just like on your computer, you need to empty trash in order for the files to be fully deleted. If you don’t need the files in your Google or Box Trash, please empty it.