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I've spoken with younger engineers who work on internal systems at Google in NYC and they mentioned working on systems that help the legal department find problems, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if it was under such a guise that these things can be retrieved.

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Typically those sorts of things are required for compliance purposes.

Stockbrokers (broker-dealers) are required by the SEC to record all text-based electronic communications, keep 7 years worth of backup on write-once, read-many media (e.g. DVD), and upload copies to a third party (to prevent "sorry, sir, the dog ate all the emails where the traders were talking about rigging LIBOR"-style excuses).

I assume there's something similar for US-listed companies, thanks to Enron.

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