Matt Hancock’s resignation won’t have escaped the attention of anyone with a vague interest in the news. In addition to the revelations of his affair with his aide, Gina Coladangelo, questions were immediately raised about how the CCTV footage had been captured in the first place [see discussion on employers using surveillance and CCTV(1)]. However, a further fallout has surrounded ministers’ use of personal email accounts for government activity.

While use of personal email accounts seems surprising for government business, and the authors of this article are steering clear of speculating why ministers may prefer to use personal email accounts over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, if an employee acted similarly, there could be severe consequences for the business.