This article is Part 2 of a two-part series exploring sensitive data and expert witnesses. Part 1 published on Legaltechnews.com in March.
Everyone involved in the judicial process—judges, parties and experts—has an obligation to help protect sensitive third-party data produced in litigation. Simply executing a protective order and hoping for the best is insufficient when it is clear that an expert witness is operating out of her or his house or is otherwise without adequate technical support. This is true even if the expert witness appears to be technically savvy. Counsel for both the producing and receiving parties must have a basic understanding of the adequacy of their experts’ network security before providing them with highly sensitive consumer data. Surely, counsel would not want their own personal data or health information loaded onto some stranger’s home network with little or no security controls in place.
