Privacy Resources

In this working group, two key conflicts were explored to help legal departments reduce risk and cost.  The first conflict was the inherent differences in IT and Legal department points of view and processes which presents a tremendous challenge to preserving data efficiently and reliably.  The second conflict was the conflict of law between US discovery obligations and EU privacy laws.  With specific prohibitions against searching and transporting employee and customer data, companies have very tough choices when US litigation or discovery encompasses data beyond our shores.

Concerns for data privacy and protection are amplifying, driven by globally diverse values. As a result, enforcement of existing privacy standards is on the rise. Additionally, conflicts are escalating between newly enacted US litigation laws and European privacy concerns after the FRCP changes in December 2006. This paper includes an overview of the EU directives and potential conflicts with discovery practices, retention program and data protection obligations for global companies.

An overview of the European data protection laws and US privacy requirements and emerging standards in other regions and countries. Special focus is placed on permissible uses, transporting and processing data and the conflicts between discovery obligations and data protection rules as well as comparing of the varying, and sometimes conflicting, intentions and objectives of these laws.

European Union Directive 95/46/EC on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data was implemented in 1995 by the European Commission. Each country has their own data protection laws, however they all tie back to this.

View each European countries implementation of EU Directive 95/46 on Privacy.

Focusing on reconciling and managing jurisdiction-driven legal requirements in a global corporation. Is it better to manage with a “one size fits all” approach to retention and data protection? Is it even possible…and what are the tradeoffs?

A review of current practices for inter- and intra-company data movement and a candid discussion on the inherent difficulties and work arounds in “no win” situations.