Digital transformations are fueling data growth, including passively capturing personal information. Over recent years, the complexity in responding to broad based discovery requests pose difficulties due to developing data technologies, cloud and mobile applications, cross-border data disbursement, and increased data volumes. Global legal developments that provide greater privacy protections exacerbates these difficulties. The continuous expansion of privacy laws and adoption of privacy regulations for specific industries (e.g., HIPPA) increased obligations to understand customer and employee data thoroughly throughout the data lifecycle. Failure to know when private data is received, used, stored, retained, or inadvertently transferred to a third party can pose financial and reputational liabilities beyond the merits of the litigation matter.
Corporate litigation events need to consider the inclusion of legal and technology experts who can assist parties address personal data privacy obligations well before the information is disclosed to an opposing party, including the government. Neutral Data Experts and advanced data analytic techniques can help the parties and courts understand the personal data privacy risks posed on the information contained in the underlying data production. This article explores the discovery challenges and technical solutions that can mitigate the data risk posed by the exponential growth of emerging technologies, corresponding data and the persistent obligations under privacy regulations.
