This essay examines how researchers, research institutions, and their counsel may foresee and effectively counter excessive subpoenas.

The ever increasing desire of industry to contain costs in the medical management arena, as well as to gather infor.

This article examines how computerized crime mapping technology enables law enforcement agencies to analyze and correlate data sources to create a detailed snapshot of crime incidents and related factors within a community or other geographical area.

"Electronic discovery" does not refer to a simple, cheap means of responding to requests for information and documents in litigation. It involves searching your company's computer network to locate and produce potentially large volumes of electronically stored items, e.g. emails, attachments, spreadsheets and drawings, and may include producing metadata (data hidden in documents regarding authors and times of document creation) and drafts of documents that have been "deleted" from computers.

Those who handle individuals? personal information, including financial details, in the course of business are required to treat that information in accordance with Canada?s privacy laws. This includes obtaining each individual?s consent to the purposes for which, and persons to whom, this information is disclosed.

The European Court of Justice recently handed down a significant ruling which clarified the application of the European Data Protection Directive to the posting of personal data on Internet websites. The ruling has important implications for all individuals and companies that post personal data on the Internet.

Financial services institutions have moved onto the Internet en masse, and the shift to electronic commerce (or, m.

The age of electronic discovery is here to stay. In today's business world, 90% of all information is in digital form. If you are faced with having to respond to a subpoena or have notice of a potential claim, consider the following to help guide (and protect) you through the process.

The United States government is now discussing how to deal with the computerization of medical records.

Genetic information is being used with increasing frequency and in a wide variety of different applications. At the same time, however, the use of such information has raised concerns about the potential for misuse and abuse. As a result, there have been a number of laws legislative proposals that would place certain conditions or limitations on the use of genetic information.

California has recently enacted two landmark pieces of consumer rights legislation, each of which creates new burdens for companies doing business with California residents. The first, Senate Bill No. 1386 ("SB 1386"), requires any company that stores customer data electronically to notify its California customers of a security breach to the company's computer system if the company knows or reasonably believes that unencrypted information about the customer has been stolen. The second, Senate Bill No. 1 ("SB 1"), commonly known as the California Financial Information Privacy Act, creates new limits on the ability of financial institutions to share nonpublic personal information about their clients with affiliates and third parties.

Most trucks manufactured in the United States since the 1990's have an Electronic Control Module (ECM) integrated with their engine components. Euphemistically referred to as a "black box", the ECM is similar to that used in commercial airliners.

Employee turnover is not just a human resources issue at most corporations. Using today?s technology, many employees create, produce and store communications and work product not just electronically, but in virtual environments. But all of this data belongs to the organization for which the individual is employed, so what does this mean for corporate IT and legal departments when employees leave the company?

This Alert sets forth a general overview of privacy law relating to the collection of personal data over the Internet under United States, European Union (EU), and Japanese law.

Electronic information management is now a primary business and legal concern. Sarbanes Oxley, information security, expanded electronic discovery demands, and new penalties for spoliation of evidence have made "document retention" an issue of urgency for general counsel.

Mr. Sax provides an overview of European Union, Canadian and US efforts to address privacy matters in E-Commerce.

Internet privacy is one of the top policy issues facing Congress, state legislatures and regulators. At the federal level, several bills are pending. Additionally, a growing number of state legislators have concluded that industry self-regulation fails to protect consumers' online privacy.

A summary of the various bills currently pending in Congress regarding existing privacy acts

The federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (?Act?), 18 U.S.C. § 1030, gives employers a helpful tool to use against former employees who wrongfully use information from the employer?s computer system to assist competitors in competing unfairly. As the Third Circuit recently noted ?[e]mployers . . . are increasingly taking advantage of the [Act?s] civil remedies to sue former employees and their new companies who seek a competitive edge through wrongful use of information from the former employer?s computer system."

The Data Quality Act (DQA) is an attempt by Congress to ensure that federal agencies use and disseminate accurate information. The DQA requires federal agencies to issue information quality guidelines ensuring the quality, utility, objectivity and integrity of information that they disseminate and provide mechanisms for affected persons to correct such information. It is important for natural resources and environmental attorneys to be aware of this law in the event that a client has an interest in filing a petition with an agency to challenge the quality of information it has used or disseminated.

Data security practices in the private sector are under growing scrutiny by the Federal Trade Commission, state attorneys general, and other state and federal regulatory agencies, as evidenced by the fines imposed on companies such as Tower Records, Barnesandnoble.com, Microsoft, and Victoria's Secret. According to a recent survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers, nearly half of the fastest growing companies in the United States have suffered a breach of data security in the past couple of years.

An overview of the privacy standards set forth in the new safe harbor program by the FTC

Examined is the process by which individuals can request real estate-related information through the Freedom of Information Act.

With sufficient fanfare, the race to sequence the human genome ended about a year ago when the publicly funded Human Genome Project and private company Celera made their research public. Likened to Watson and Crick's breaking of the DNA code in 1953, this biotechnological achievement will have (and has already had) far-reaching implications.

This article summarizes how the Freedom of Information Act works in conjunction with requests from competitors to obtain proposals or contracts from the government.

The "New Economy" is a catchphrase describing the efforts of entrepreneurs to supply consumers' insatiable demand .

In the not-too-distant past industrial espionage consisted of photocopying and carting out files. Identity theft, a rare crime until recent years, happened when someone's wallet was stolen by a pickpocket. The computer and the Internet have dramatically changed the playing field.

This article discusses the effects of the European Commission's privacy directive on U.S. business data transfers.

The Freedom of Information Act entitles you to review, inspect and receive copies of documents in the possession of a public body, unless the public body chooses to assert an exemption.