As the use of collaboration and cloud storage platforms expand, litigants and courts are facing increased challenges in keeping up with e-discovery requirements created with different technologies in mind. One example involves the discovery obligations associated with files referenced in email only by hyperlink. Should a litigant be required to find and produce that referenced document as if it were an attachment? What if that is very hard to do? What if the file has moved or changed in the interim? The Southern District of New York recently addressed these issues and held that – for a host of practical and technical reasons – such hyperlinked documents should not “necessarily” invoke obligations to collect and produce the referenced document.
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Court Rules Personal Privacy Interests May Impact Scope of Discovery for Text Messages
Increasing mobile device usage for routine business – such as through text messages and mobile applications like WhatsApp – is contributing to a new developing trend in E-Discovery: broad discovery requests for businesses to collect and produce data from their employees’ mobile phones.
The proliferation of electronic communication not only makes it imperative for organizations to have mechanisms in place to capture and preserve mobile text messages, but also raises new challenges about how to protect employee privacy. As more and more employees use their personal devices for business purposes (and vice-versa – employees using company-provided devices also for personal purposes), there is an increasing desire among employees to ensure their personal data is protected, even as the company produces other data required in discovery.
Courts have recognized this is an issue, and the law is evolving to strike a balance between the discoverability of relevant information and privacy protections from overly intrusive requests for text messages.
Continue Reading Court Rules Personal Privacy Interests May Impact Scope of Discovery for Text Messages