As our economy and companies become more digital and global, digital information outside the U.S becomes increasingly relevant to resolving civil disputes within our nation.

Digital information will be governed by a set of laws and values many U.S. companies and their lawyers are not familiar with , because the U.S. trades more heavily with nations outside the EU. While most industrialized (e.g., Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia) and newly industrializing (e.g., Singapore and South Africa) nations have developed laws compelling the transfer of relevant electronically stored information (ESI) in civil disputes, none has laws as liberal and far reaching as U.S. civil discovery procedures.

Many nations also impose restrictions on when ESI can be gathered, processed, used and transmitted beyond borders. Indeed, “In many non-U.S. jurisdictions, including the European Union member states, some Asian nations and a few Latin American nations, data privacy is viewed as a fundamental right and ‘personal data’ is afforded greater protections than we are accustomed in the U.S.” (Gibson Dunn, “E-Discovery Basics: Cross-Border E-Discovery,” Vol. 1, No. 11). In addition, certain countries have privacy laws designed to protect information about their state-run companies (e.g., China) or even the identity of their banking clients (e.g., Switzerland).

Data protection hits the BRICS

Recently, the world’s largest emerging economies, collectively known as “BRICS” (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), have become more protective of electronic data. Most U.S. litigators have some passing familiarity with the somewhat longstanding and oft-discussed EU Data Protection Directive 94/46/EC, which restricts the processing and transferring of “personal data” about EU member-state citizens. However, they are not generally familiar with the restrictions that emerging economies are placing on data transfer. As recently as July 2011, two BRICS members (Russia and China) passed laws strengthening data protection in their countries.

Every BRICS member nation has stricter data privacy laws than those of the U.S. and none officially authorizes the transfer of “private” data to the U.S. On July 25, 2011, Russia amended its data privacy laws to require written consent to transfer any “personal data” and to grant Russian officials the exclusive authority to determine which sovereignties may receive such data. China also strengthened its protection of “personal information” on July 27, 2011, when it amended the “Provisions on the Administration of Internet Information Services,” preventing Internet service providers from collecting and using personal data without individual consent.

via E-Discovery: What increased data protection means for the global economy.