Data jams

In a globalised environment where legal and regulatory matters can involve corporate offices and subsidiaries based in multiple jurisdictions, moving data from one country to another in order to respond accurately can lead to significant legal, political and social hurdles. For example, a discovery request arising from US litigation may require the production of documents from a company’s French subsidiary, including those containing personal data. The US legal team will then be faced with the EU Data Protection Directive, an instrument concerned with the level of protection of personal data after it has left the EU, and the French Blocking Statute French Penal Code Law No. 80-538, which prohibits a French national or corporation from moving data out of France in response to civil proceedings in another country.

Matters involving moving data in the Asia-Pacific region can also be problematic. For instance China’s state secrecy laws prohibit unlawful copying, recording, transmission or storage of state secrets and incorporates a broad definition of such secrets, including