Information security has become an increasingly important concern for modern businesses. As businesses move their information storage to the “cloud,” rather than keeping it in computers on site, the need for appropriate security controls becomes more pronounced. Companies (and their IT vendors) often devote substantial resources to ensuring that their employee work product and competitively sensitive information remains private. But that is no small task: It can be very difficult to control the spread of electronically-stored information, which may be transmitted around the world a dozen times before the security team has finished their morning coffee.

Such concerns are only heightened upon the departure of employees who have had legitimate access to confidential information. A few years ago, a company might have felt that its data was secure if it simply escorted departing employees out of the building and took their company laptops and keycards. But the modern workplace is more complex: Employees work from a variety of locations on company data stored remotely using a wide range of access systems. It is now common for employers to devote significant resources to searching through an employee’s electronic communications, including work emails, texts, and access logs to ensure no company confidential information has been removed or improperly accessed prior to the employee’s departure.