The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in its October 3, 2011 decision in Suzlon Energy Ltd v. Microsoft Corporation, has taken another step in defining the rights of people to protect their emails from being disclosed in civil court proceedings. The question before the Suzlon court was whether a party can require a U.S. electronic communication service provider to produce emails stored on a U.S. server for the account of a non-U.S. national without regard to the safeguards and restrictions imposed by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA). The court answered with a clear “no,” stating that the protections of the ECPA against unrestricted disclosure of emails by an electronic communication service provider apply to non-U.S. nationals as well as to U.S. citizens.
Cloud Computing Case Clarifies Applicability of U.S. Privacy Law to Non-U.S. Nationals : Electronic Discovery Law
11 considerations to control your e-mail environment | ITWeb
E-mail has become the lifeblood of many business processes, from business communication to tech support and e-commerce. According to Gartner research, e-mail volume in organisations is growing, typically, by more than 30% annually and the average user receives 7MB of data per day via e-mail.
“As a result of this growth, the handling of e-mail has become a critical business, IT and regulatory issue, driving the need for e-mail archiving solutions,” says Mark Edwards, director of product and services at technology solutions and people resources integrator, Intuate Group.
He adds that most organisations looking for an e-mail archiving solution are motivated by four reasons: mailbox/server management; compliance/records retention; electronic discovery/litigation support; and knowledge management/IP protection.
“In addition to these challenges, IT departments want to know how to control costs associated with the e-mail environment, while keeping important data accessible for business, legal and regulatory users,” he says.
With these escalating demands come new considerations for organisations selecting e-mail archiving solutions. Edwards points out that while analysts talk about the break-even point between on-premise and software as a service (SaaS) e-mail archiving solutions, the increasing demands on e-mail archives are fundamentally changing the equation.
He says that break-even calculations were often based on older hosted archiving models, with limited functionality and high pricing based on very expensive storage.
“SaaS e-mail solutions built on the latest grid technology and from the right vendor can satisfy new archiving demands reliably and cost-effectively in ways that an on-premise solution cannot, with pay-as-you-go pricing, robust technology and expertise to help you meet emerging regulatory, legal and other requirements. These solutions must also be considered in the context of overall organisational e-mail needs: the right archiving solution can simplify and strengthen your general e-mail management systems and processes,” explains Edwards.
via 11 considerations to control your e-mail environment | ITWeb.
AppleInsider | Apple granted patent for dock connector with USB 3.0, Thunderbolt
A patent recently granted to Apple reveals that the company is looking into a modified dock connector compatible with newer high-speed communication standards, such as USB 3.0 and a “dual-lane DisplayPort,” or Thunderbolt, connector.
The invention, entitled “Reduced Size Multi-Pin Male Plug Connector,” was published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday and describes a smaller 30-pin dock connector with updated connection standards.
“Some embodiments of the present invention can provide support for one or more new high-speed communication standards,” the filing read, citing USB 3.0 and DisplayPort as examples of these standards.
via AppleInsider | Apple granted patent for dock connector with USB 3.0, Thunderbolt.
Facebook’s new messaging feature raises privacy questions | Science & Technology | Deutsche Welle | 16.11.2010
A digital shoebox
Facebook’s messaging system has always been integral to the platform, providing users with a slightly less public forum for discussion than publishing everything on “Facebook Walls,” the bulletin boards that display the activities of a user.
Facebook’s latest plans have created a media stir.
With Messages, Zuckerberg says the concept is to “flatten” the landscape of communication. Teens, he said at the press conference, prefer SMS over e-mail because the latter is too slow, whereas others strictly use e-mail or instant messaging to talk to their friends and family. So Facebook intends to use Messages to aggregate these three different means of communication into one conversation. One user may send an SMS, another might reply with an e-mail, but both messages appear on Facebook as part of a conversation.
The result, Facebook says, will be a continuous collection of conversation history between friends. The image used in promotional material by Facebook is that Messages will be analogous to the boxes of letters people once used to collect and cherish, as a way to remember the course of a relationship.
But what about privacy?
As the new system is gradually rolled out, users will be able to send and receive e-mails with their new @facebook.com e-mail address. At first, Facebook users will only receive mail from their Facebook friends, with all other mail going into an Other or a Junk mail folder. But users may “promote” mail from these folders to their primary folders if they wish.
The conversation history will be stored on Facebook, which could raise security concerns for some. When asked about an option for “off the record” conversations at the press conference, Zuckerberg responded that users would have the option to delete threads or messages, but that “off the record” doesn’t make sense.
In the past, Facebook has weathered criticism for some of the wording in their Terms of Use, which in February 2009, briefly seemed to state that Facebook would own any content a user uploaded to the public site, in perpetuity. Facebook and Zuckerberg quickly moved to douse the flames of public outcry and released a new Terms of Use with the section on privacy right up at the top which states, “You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook, and you can control how it is shared through your privacy and application settings.”
You can’t win (or lose) if you don’t play
Senior adviser calls for stronger EU data protection laws – Computerworld
Europe needs strong and effective data protection, the European data protection supervisor said Monday.
Responding to the recent European Commission communication on data protection reform, Peter Hustinx underlined the importance of a clear legal framework that harmonizes national data protection legislation, particularly in societies where private information is widely gathered without individuals’ knowledge.
He also called for a technologically neutral approach, the inclusion of the principles of privacy by design and accountability, and the introduction of a mandatory security breach notification covering all relevant sectors.
“Data protection is not an abstract thing. It relates to everybody’s life, every moment of every day. There is no room for mistakes here: the challenges are enormous. That is why the proposed solutions must be equally ambitious and actually enhance the effectiveness of the instruments of data protection,” he said.
via Senior adviser calls for stronger EU data protection laws – Computerworld.
Facebook Launches New Messaging/Email Service
Not an Email Killer
At 10AM Pacific time, Facebook opened the doors on its new service, offering three features in a new messaging product that Mark Zuckerberg says “isn’t an email killer, but a new product that won’t replace your other services but will engage people because it is simpler, easier and more accessible.”
It offers seamless messaging across all your different communication methods and devices. This includes email, SMS and IM but is not — in itself — an email service.
Users can have an @facebook.com address, but it’s not essential, and it works across both messaging, chat and email. Whatever you’re using at the time, the message will appear in the appropriate format.
How organizing e-mails can save you time and money in litigation – John Shonkwiler, Novack and Macey LLP
What happens with e-mails that are subject to discovery in litigation?
Over the past decade, as litigators have tried to get their arms around electronic communication and how to handle it in terms of discovery applications, the ‘dump and search’ method has become common. In litigation, dump and search refers to the way information is obtained from the litigants, when massive amounts of data and information are dumped off of a server without any discretion. It is then transferred to where it can be electronically scanned and searched using search terms related to the litigation. Once that data is gleaned, a manual search is done for relevance and privilege.
Needless to say, the time and expense required to perform the dump and search process is typically proportionate to the size of the e-mail data dump — in many cases, massive — not the least of which is lawyers’ fees for reviewing the (often still massive) quantity of e-mail identified by the term search process. Then, even after that process is completed, the e-mails usually have to be processed and converted by a vendor so that they’re compatible with litigation software.
This is a long and complicated process for just one person’s e-mail. When you have to gather and produce several employees’ e-mail, it can easily take several months to perform the dump and search process. Perhaps the scariest part is that the quantity of e-mail generated in the workplace is only growing as we continue to develop into a community of BlackBerry and smart phone addicts. Because the process is expensive and burdensome, courts must be receptive to alternatives.
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