I don't know, looking back in over two decades of my career in the industry, I can hardly think of any communication that, if it ended in evidence, would constitute any trouble. Sure, some would be embarrassing for me personally, revealing me asking stupid questions, making wrong decisions and being responsible for some failures, but that's life. There would be some commercial secrets, sure. But noting that I would need to work hard to conceal.

Maybe that's because I am a low level code monkey and communications in the higher spheres are full with nefarious plans about how to do illegal stuff and suppress competitors - but honestly I never observed anything close to a picture that you are painting.