What evidence is lawful to collect when an employee leaves for a competitor?

Only what national employment and data protection law allows, collected for a legitimate purpose and in proportion to it. In general terms, the GDPRGDPR: General Data Protection Regulation. The EU data protection law (Regulation (EU) 2016/679). requires a legal basis, a specific purpose, data minimisation and transparency towards employees, and many countries add employment-law rules on monitoring and on works councils. Records you already keep for security, such as alerts about unusual uploads, may be reused only where the new purpose is compatible and the law permits it; secretly reading a person's private communications is generally off limits. Before collecting anything, involve HR, the data protection officer and legal advice, document the suspicion and the steps taken, and secure evidence through people qualified to do it. NetSenX shows device activity in alerts; it is not a tool for profiling an individual.

General information, not legal advice. National laws can add to the EU texts quoted here, for example deadlines, forms or reporting channels: check your own country's rules.

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