With business conversations extending across video, audio, transcripts and chat, it will not be long before we see Zoom data appearing as evidence in court. Legal teams and CIOs need to think about how to preserve Zoom data proactively for litigation case assessments, discovery, and holds, as well as investigations and regulatory actions.
It is difficult to think of a comparable cyber event to the one that effectively shut down the fuel pipeline that feeds over a third of the United States. We are in the midst of a national cyber crisis, and while we may have a blueprint for the resolution of these other crises, things must urgently change on the cybersecurity front.
In the past four months of 2021, the amount of state legislative activity around consumer data privacy laws has been frantic, by state legislatures standards. So much so, it is not easy to discern the cause for all this effort.
In response to widespread changes in the use of technology, and evaluating the potential risks of remote work and the rise of virtual meeting platforms, on March 10, 2021, the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility issued Formal Opinion 498 making it clear that the Model Rules of Professional Conduct permit lawyers to conduct their practices virtually, but urges caution at all times:
In 2020, law firms did what they had to do to continue serving their clients. Information governance may have been sacrificed in the face of an urgent, global crisis. As understandable as that is, it's time now to step back and assess best practices for the new operational model that is here to stay.
Companies are collecting and managing more data than ever, essentially in order to create value, thus in effect making every company a "data" company. But for data to provide value, organizations need to know where it is, who has access to it, how it's managed, including its longevity value, and how it needs to be secured and protected.
With regulatory and investigations activity expected to pick up significantly in the coming year, it's more important than ever to tighten up remote investigations methods to meet best practices. Aside from enabling continuity during COVID-19 restrictions, remote workflows offer a number of benefits in investigations.
Recently, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that audio interceptions did not violate the rights of the defendant under the Wiretap Act, and so were admissible. The Supreme Court drew a proper and logical conclusion from the facts and the law and, hopefully, brought us closer to a reasonable look at the issue, but we still have a long way to go.
While the private sector is undeniably in great need of cybersecurity professionals, the public sector must compete for the limited supply of qualified candidates, particularly those capable of filling high-level positions.
For a jurisdiction with little to no discovery process, the EU and its stringent privacy requirements may have already emerged as the next frontier for e-discovery providers looking to expand their business outside of the United States. However, the region's relative inexperience with e-discovery could still emerge as a hindrance for vendors eyeing an EU-based expansion.
