The Hidden Risk in Your Inbox: Why Maritime Trade Can’t Ignore Personal Data

Email is the heartbeat of global trade.

In the maritime world, it is more than just a tool for communication. It is the system of record. Fixtures, port calls, customs clearance, crew management: they all flow through the inbox. But as the volume of operational messages continues to grow, so too does a risk that often goes unnoticed: personal data.

From scanned passports to medical notes, personally identifiable information (PII) is embedded deep within day-to-day correspondence. And while these exchanges may feel routine, they now carry weighty consequences in an era of tightening global data regulations.

Personal data, operational routine

In maritime operations, sensitive information is shared constantly and, in many cases, without a second thought. Port agents receive copies of crew passports. Chartering teams confirm visas and medical clearances. Customs documentation often includes personal addresses and ID numbers. This kind of information, like names, emails, phone numbers, addresses and ID references, is classified as PII and subject to increasing scrutiny.

Why? Because the risk is no longer theoretical. Maritime businesses are handling personal data on a daily basis, and regulators are paying attention.

A regulatory tide is rising

For many years, maritime’s focus has rightly been on compliance with safety and operational regulations. But data protection laws have quietly expanded, and they are now reaching into inboxes across the supply chain.

From the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe to Brazil’s LGPD, Singapore’s PDPA and South Africa’s POPIA, more countries are introducing frameworks that mandate how businesses must handle personal data. The United Arab Emirates and Australia have both updated their regulations in recent years. Meanwhile, in the United States, states like California have introduced their own rules, most notably the CCPA, with more to follow.

These laws differ in detail but align on one key principle: businesses must take responsibility for the personal data they hold. That includes knowing where it sits, how it is used and ensuring it is kept only as long as needed. In the context of maritime email, that is no small ask.

A growing operational burden

Recent reports show that over 80 percent of enterprise data is now unstructured. That includes email, attachments and PDFs. These formats make it difficult to detect and track personal data, especially at scale.

At the same time, email remains the most common cause of data loss. In the last year alone, 65 percent of organisations reported email-related data incidents, and 91 percent had experienced security issues caused by human error. The problem is not malicious attacks. It is routine, everyday actions like forwarding the wrong document, missing a redaction or storing sensitive information for too long.

In short, the risk is everywhere. Not because people are careless, but because the systems they rely on were never built to manage data privacy.

Does this sound familiar?

James, a port agent in Rotterdam, was racing to clear a tanker ahead of a tight berth slot. Amid the pressure, he forwarded a crew list to immigration. It was a routine email, sent without a second thought. But buried in the attachment were scanned medical certificates for six crew members from a previous voyage, each containing sensitive health details and personal ID numbers.

No one noticed until three days later, when the same document resurfaced in a forwarded message from a port logistics partner. By that point, the file had travelled through six inboxes, including recipients outside James’s organisation, outside his company’s control and outside the data-sharing agreements in place.

The consequences were immediate. The company had to file a formal report under GDPR, notify every affected crew member and issue a response to both their legal team and the port authority. Operations stalled as legal and IT scrambled to trace every copy of the document. What started as a quick administrative task triggered a reputational and regulatory crisis, all because of one overlooked email attachment.

What is at stake?

Aside from the regulatory requirements, which carry financial penalties in the millions, there is a reputational risk to consider. In industries like shipping and logistics, trust is everything. Mistakes in handling personal data can damage relationships with customers, partners and employees alike.

There is also a resource cost. Legal teams must respond to data subject access requests. Compliance teams are tasked with internal audits. IT teams are asked to retrospectively trace what was sent, where and to whom. All of this pulls focus from the core work of running vessels and moving cargo.

It is time to get ahead

Most maritime businesses do not set out to mishandle personal data. But the growing volume of communication, combined with fragmented systems, makes manual oversight impossible. It is no longer enough to assume that sensitive information will be spotted and managed on an ad hoc basis.

For businesses operating in global trade, it is time to get ahead of the curve. That starts with visibility, understanding where personal data lives across your communications. From there, it is about control: the ability to act quickly when something needs to be redacted, removed or logged.

This is not just about compliance. It is about operational resilience in an environment where reputations are built on how securely and transparently you handle information.

Protecting the Inbox: Where Action Meets Urgency

The inbox has become one of the most overlooked risk zones in maritime operations. But it is also one of the easiest places to start making improvements. Getting smart about personal data is not a future priority. It is a present requirement.

Global trade moves fast. But that is no excuse for letting personal data management fall behind.

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