Survey Uncovers Market Trends, Obstacles in Information Management

Did you know that, very few records managers express high e-discovery confidence? According to a survey conducted by Forrester Research (Nasdaq: FORR) in conjunction with ARMA International barely 20 percent of records management decision makers report they are "very confident" that, if challenged, their organization could demonstrate their electronically stored information (ESI) is accurate, accessible, and trustworthy.

This information and much more is available in the September 2009 Forrester Research report, ''Records Management: User Expectations, Market Trends, And Obstacles.

For more information on the survey and for information on obtaining a copy of the report view the press release available on PR Web today HERE.

Why Cross-Border Litigation is a Compliance Concern

As the global economy expands, more and more organizations are conducting business across borders, inevitably leading to litigation, government inquiries and compliance audits that span international boundaries. Not surprisingly, cross-border litigation often results in complex electronic discovery (often referred to as e-discovery) issues, where organizations are required to produce electronically stored information from various countries as evidence.

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EU Data protection group publishes pre-trial discovery guidance

The Article 29 Working Party, an EU data protection watchdog, has published a guidance document on pre-trial discovery for cross border civil litigation.

This working document provides guidance to data controllers subject to EU Law in dealing
with requests to transfer personal data to another jurisdiction for use in civil litigation. The
Working Party has issued this document to address its concern that there are different applications of Directive 95/46 (Data Protection Directive) in part as a result of the variety of approaches to civil litigation across the Member States.

In the first section of this document the Working Party briefly sets out the differences in
attitudes to litigation and in particular the pre-trial discovery process between common law
jurisdictions such as the United States and the United Kingdom and civil code jurisdictions.

The document goes on to set out guidelines for EU data controllers when trying to reconcile the demands of the litigation process in a foreign jurisdiction with the data protection obligations of Directive 95/46.

Download the full document here: http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/fsj/privacy/docs/wpdocs/2009/wp158_en.pdf

EU privacy advisory body looking at e-discovery

The Article 29 Working Party subgroup dealing with E-discovery met in September to discuss this transborder issue. A draft working paper should be proposed for discussion and possible adoption at the next plenary session of the Article 29 Working Party in December.

The Article 29 Working Party on the Protection of Individuals with regard to the Processing of Personal Data is an independent advisory body on data protection and privacy, set up under Article 29 of the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC. It is composed of representatives from the national data protection authorities of the EU Member States, the European Data Protection Supervisor and the European Commission. Its tasks are described in Article 30 of Directive 95/46/EC and Article 15 of Directive 2002/58/EC. The WP is competent to examine questions covering the application of the national measures adopted under the data protection directives in order to contribute to the uniform application of the directives. It carries out this task by issuing recommendations, opinions and working documents.

http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/fsj/privacy/workinggroup/index_en.htm