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ARTICLE · 22 JUNE 2026

Data Protection Authority: Obligations And Limits In Digital Forensics Activities

DL-Law Avvocati Giuslavoristi
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The Italian Data Protection Authority has ruled that digital forensics activities conducted during internal corporate investigations must comply with data protection regulations. Following an anonymous whistleblowing report, a company's forensic examination of a senior executive's email and storage was deemed unlawful due to failures in information provision, data processor appointment, and adherence to data minimisation principles.

ItalyPrivacy
DL-LAW Avvocati Giuslavoristi
DL-LAW Avvocati Giuslavoristi

With its decision of 4 March 2026, the Italian Data Protection Authority clarified that digital forensics activities carried out in the context of internal corporate investigations qualify as processing of personal data and must therefore fully comply with data protection rules

In the case at issue—concerning the forensic acquisition and analysis of the corporate email account and storage spaces of a senior executive, initiated following an anonymous whistleblowing report—the Authority found the processing to be unlawful, identifying in particular:

  • the lack of prior information provided to the data subject;
  • the absence of a valid appointment of the data processor;
  • breaches of the principles of data minimisation, purpose limitation and storage limitation.

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