The management of a personal corporate email account at the end of an employment relationship is often treated as a technical matter, whereas it involves significant legal aspects.

The organizational need to ensure continuity in communications with clients and suppliers is understandable, but it does not justify managing the former employee’s account without rules.

The regulatory framework is primarily based on the principle of confidentiality of correspondence and communications set out in Article 15 of the Constitution, alongside the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR).

In particular, the principles set out in Article 5 of the GDPR require that data processing be lawful and proportionate, limited to specific purposes, and retained for no longer than necessary.

In the employment context, the management of company tools may also require coordination with Article 4 of the Workers’ Statute, where the adopted measures may, even indirectly, result in forms of monitoring of employee activity.

The most common issues arise from organizational practices adopted for convenience, such as keeping the account active for an extended period, automatically forwarding all emails to other corporate addresses, or granting broad access to multiple internal parties.

Such conduct may lead to the collection and retention of content exceeding the intended purpose, also because the mailbox may include personal communications and, in any case, contains data relating to third parties with whom the former employee interacted for professional reasons.

Compliant management requires the company to establish and implement an offboarding procedure consistent with internal notices and policies.

Generally, it is advisable to deactivate the personal account within a reasonable timeframe and activate an automatic reply directing senders to an alternative contact.

At the same time, it is recommended to reduce reliance on personal accounts by using functional mailboxes for stable business processes, in order to prevent a single account from becoming the exclusive entry point for relevant communications.

Where a transitional period is necessary, the measures adopted must be time-limited and calibrated according to strict necessity, with tracked access granted only to expressly authorized persons.

Where there are needs related to legal protection in judicial proceedings, strictly necessary data may be retained, but with a selective and documented approach, avoiding generalized storage without defined retention periods.

Proper management of corporate email upon termination of employment, therefore, is not only a matter of compliance, but also a tool to reduce operational and litigation risks.

The Law Firm remains available for any further clarification.