VP wants to spy on his employees, what permissions are required to see "identifiable user information"?

I think for pushback, this is actually a really smart way to go. The fact that it also gives him the ability to massive damage to AD is a very good point but shouldn't be brought up in the initial convo. Keep that in the back pocket for now. I could see by adding it, that a C level would think it's just an IT wonk hoarding his power. Keep the topic focused on the part that's likely to raise eyebrows. Depending on the size & scope of the org, don't go direct to the CEO, take it to the CISO, CIO, or CTO first. CC'ing HR may or may not be a good idea. Either way you want to keep the initial audience as limited as possible so it doesn't feel like you're trying to get anyone in trouble. You want to go for "I'm doing a CYA", CYA is less likely to get you in trouble in most circumstances. "A request has come through which raises some concerns. Due to the seriousness of these concerns, I wanted to be sure you were informed, and that I have full approval from the top before proceeding. XXXX has requested full global admin access in order to do activity reporting for his team, and my manager YYY has directed me to proceed. My concern is that global admin gives access to all information including C level documents, email, and information. Additionally, it will provide access to HR information that may be confidential, and in some cases, may violate federal law if shared. While I believe it should be possible to address his request without global admin access, I do not immediately have a solution to address it. I estimate it will take a week to find alternate methods, and possibly another week to implement them. Please advise if I have your approval for this request"