What is a common reason corporate email is subject to monitoring?

Corporate email monitoring is primarily undertaken to enforce policies within an organization. This entails ensuring that employees adhere to company standards, guidelines, and legal requirements when using email communication. By monitoring email, companies aim to prevent misuse, such as sharing confidential information, engaging in harassment, or violating compliance regulations. Monitoring can also help manage other risks that might arise from inappropriate use of company communications.

While factors like productivity and data collection are relevant in certain contexts, they are often secondary to the overarching need to uphold and enforce established policies. For instance, while ensuring productivity may be a reason for monitoring, it is not as directly tied to regulatory and compliance needs as policy enforcement is. Similarly, preventing hacking is a critical aspect of cybersecurity, but it typically falls under more specific IT security measures rather than the broader scope of email monitoring intended for policy enforcement.