Samsung Email app update security settings

[MDTat]

Hi,

I've been using the Samsung Email app for a few months without any problems. However, today, I couldn't access my university email without activating some new security settings. This involves allowing the app to delete all data on my phone, lock the screen, set password rules, disable internet, encrypt my data, etc. These are all very intrusive things, and since it's my personal phone I can't accept this.

I contacted the university IT support, and they say it's the email app itself that requests this, not the university. I as therefore wondering if anyone else have similar problems, and is there a fix, other than using a different app, or setting everything up again from scratch?

Thank you!

[AndrewL]

@MDTat: It sounds like the Email app needs to be granted admin access via a range of permissions, in order to be able to run on your device and perform certain actions. I understand your concerns, however you will be required to accept the permissions presented to you in order to continue accessing your University account externally via the Email app.

[MDTat]

Sorry I forgot to mention this in the original post. I have no trouble accessing my other email accounts (Hotmail and Gmail). Why does the Email app require me to give it admin access specifically for my university email?

[AndrewL]

@MDTat: It may be how the account is setup on the device e.g. POP, IMAP etc. I know that some providers do have additional restrictions in place when accessing email accounts on mobile devices, and this appears to be one of those instances.

[MDTat]

But I did contact the IT at my university, and I was told they hadn't changed anything, and it's been working fine for months. Couldn't it be a recent update that caused this problem?

[AndrewL]

@MDTat: It's difficult to say. As a troubleshooting step, try removing the account and re-adding it via Settings > Accounts and Backup > Accounts > Email, or via the Email app itself, and check to see if the same restrictions apply.

[Solvai]

I'm having the same problem. I've been trying to add my Microsoft Outlook account to my email app, and it doesn't seem to function properly. The app keeps asking me to allow it to "remotely control security features on my phone", and I suspect that my email won't work properly until it do. But it seems unreasonable and unnecessary that my email app should be able to "erase all my phone's data without warning by performing a factory reset", among other things, as stated above my MDTat.  I've been using that app with my Yahoo account without any problems, so I don't quite understand why it suddenly needs all these new permissions in order for me to use my Outlook account. I also tried the troubleshooting step suggested by AndrewL (re-adding the account), but this didn't solve the problem. 

[MDTat]

Thanks, I'm glad I'm not the only one. Did you happen to update your phone lately? I think it might have been the latest update that caused this...

[Solvai]

Yeah, me too. No, I haven't updated my phone for quite a long time.

[BjornHal]

3 day old S20+, fully updated, and got the same thing.  Looked like a hack/phish....but wasn't.  After hours with tech, "unfixable.....".      Pathetic software w/Samsung accounts.  Uninstalled their email app and moved to OUtlook....works fantastically well.  Next step, dropping all Samsung installed app and replacing with good quality independent apps.  Good luck.