Offshore Outsourcing: Protecting Privacy A World Away

Business process outsourcing (BPO) to offshore service providers has become an integral part of the global economy ' and integrally 'e' ' finding particular success in the financial services, health care and IT industries.<br/>Studies confirm that offshore BPO will not only continue to grow, but accelerate in the years to come. One study projects that by 2010, the world's 100 largest financial institutions will move $400 billion of their cost base offshore, saving an average of just under $1.5 billion annually each. <br/>This explosive trend will continue to create economic, political, cultural and legal challenges for all types of companies dealing with personal data and the regulations that cover the collection, movement, storage and accessing of it ' in the United States and abroad. And, given the popularity of financial services and health care BPO, privacy concerns are certain to figure largely in these challenges. This article provides an overview of some of the legal and practical implications of BPO to offshore vendors.