Google Netherlands has agreed to hand over the IP addresses of a Gmail user in an alleged spy case.

The CEO of Dutch internet incubator company iMerge suspected that a former disgruntled employee, who also acted as a system administrator, had secretly created an auto-forward rule in one of the company’s mail servers. Several mails, including business conversations and a romantic discourse which led to a divorce, were forwarded to a Gmail address.

Because Gmail doesn’t reveal someone’s IP address in outgoing mail headers, iMerge couldn’t take legal action against the former employee.

Via | TheRegister