Defensible eDiscovery Collection for Gmail & Google Workspace (Google Vault & Takeout)

In modern litigation and investigations, law firm eDiscovery teams must defensibly collect email and cloud data while preserving its integrity. This guide provides a comprehensive, step-by-step manual for collecting Gmail and other Google Workspace data using Google Vault (for enterprise eDiscovery) and Google Takeout (for user-driven exports). It is written for legal and technical audiences, emphasizing best practices such as maintaining chain of custody, preserving metadata, ensuring data integrity, and obtaining proper user consent.