Rapid advances in communications technology has resulted in a surge in the amount and types of data maintained by the wide range of companies that provide services to consumers and businesses. Accessing the information stored by those companies is quickly becoming essential to law enforcement agencies, resulting in a tremendous increase in requests for access to emails, text messages, social media messages, and other customer information. Cell phone carriers alone report that in 2011 they responded to 1.3 million law enforcement requests for information such as text messages, caller location data, and subscriber information.
Unfortunately, the law has not kept pace with the advances in technology, resulting in confusion and uncertainty about how companies should respond to requests for access to their customers’ information. The explosion in the number of companies providing services that store data ‘‘in the cloud’’ provides new challenges for applying outdated laws to new technologies. This article examines the difficulties presented by the lack of clear legal guidance on disclosure of customer information by these companies.
Read the full article (PDF):
“Uncertainty in the Cloud: Changing Requirements for Disclosing Customer Data.”
Originally published in Bloomberg BNA Digital Discovery & e-Evidence (November 8, 2012).
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