Keeping up with data privacy regulations has only gotten harder. What was once a handful of rules now looks like a patchwork: by 2026, roughly 20 U.S. states have comprehensive consumer privacy laws in effect (Indiana, Kentucky, and Rhode Island are the latest, online as of January 1), alongside the GDPR overseas, HIPAA in healthcare, and industry-specific retention and security mandates. And as these laws continue to evolve, businesses have to evolve with them.

Compliance isn't something you can put off. The deadline is already here.

State attorneys general are no longer just sending warning letters. They’re enforcing, with multi-million-dollar settlements now setting precedent in California, Texas, and Connecticut. Meanwhile, the proposed overhaul of the HIPAA Security Rule (the first major update since 2013) would, if finalized, make encryption of electronic protected health information and multi-factor authentication mandatory rather than “addressable.”

And because attackers keep going after people rather than software, the risk starts in the inbox. Phishing is still the initial point of entry in roughly one in six breaches (IBM’s 2025 Cost of a Data Breach Report), the average U.S. breach now costs $10.22 million, and around 80% of phishing campaigns target cloud credentials for services like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. Business email compromise alone accounted for $2.77 billion in reported losses in 2024 (FBI IC3).

So whether you run Microsoft 365, Microsoft Exchange, or any other on-premises or cloud-hosted email service, are you confident you’re protected against the accidental or intentional exposure of confidential information, such as Social Security or Tax-ID numbers, bank account details, and protected health information, sent via email?

Here are three ways SecurityGateway for Email helps you stay compliant with data privacy regulations.

1. Archiving with Data Retention & Legal Hold

Most privacy and recordkeeping regulations don’t just govern how you protect data. They also govern how long you keep it and how reliably you can produce it. SecurityGateway includes built-in archiving and data retention policies, plus legal hold, to help your business meet retention requirements that differ by industry and jurisdiction.

It’s straightforward to set up, and it can spare your business serious headaches when an audit, investigation, or litigation request lands. Instead of scrambling to reconstruct who sent what and when, you have a tamper-resistant record ready to go.

2. Data Leak Prevention

Companies of every size continue to suffer breaches. The largest ones make the news, but countless smaller incidents never get reported, often because businesses choose not to disclose them to protect their reputation. For a small or mid-sized organization, a single major incident can cause serious problems.

A small, early investment in email security and compliance can help your business avoid far costlier losses later.

SecurityGateway’s Data Leak Prevention feature helps protect against the loss of confidential business data sent via email, including PHI, financial records, Social Security numbers, and much more. Messages that contain sensitive data can be automatically encrypted or routed to the administrative quarantine for review before they ever leave your organization, whether the exposure is an honest mistake or a malicious insider.

3. Email Encryption

Encryption used to be considered a best practice. Now it's widely expected. The proposed HIPAA Security Rule update would require it outright for ePHI at rest and in transit, and most state privacy laws now expect businesses to adhere to stronger safeguards.

SecurityGateway lets you encrypt messages containing sensitive information via the Secure Messaging Portal, so that confidential data stays unreadable to anyone it wasn’t intended for. Rules can trigger encryption automatically based on content, so protection doesn’t depend on a busy employee remembering to flip a switch.

Compliance is becoming a baseline requirement for many businesses. Pairing retention, data leak prevention, and encryption at the gateway gives you a defensible, documented layer of protection that scales as the rules keep changing.

If you’re ready to start protecting your business against regulatory violations and data leaks, sign up for a free trial of SecurityGateway for Email. Have questions? Our team is available by phone or email to help!