Digital Dawn Raids: CJEU Draws Line Between Business And Personal Devices

What did the Court decide?

In Joined Cases C-258/23, C-259/23, and C-260/23¹ IMI, Synlabhealth and SIBS (“IMI”), the Grand Chamber of the CJEU clarified the extent to which competition authorities can obtain electronic communications and access digital devices during competition inspections. The judgment confirms that business emails may be seized without prior judicial authorisation in certain circumstances while also highlighting that access to employee-owned or mixed-use devices raises distinct privacy and data protection concerns that necessitate enhanced procedural safeguards.

Two aspects of the judgment are likely to be of particular interest to businesses:

Workplace communications remain protected communications