Is the Cloud Safe for eDiscovery?
Cloud computing is undoubtedly becoming a popular choice as it helps reduce eDiscovery costs and provides relief to organizations from handling complex legal procedures. Everybody is aware of the time and costs consumed in the electronic disclosure process. With cloud computing, the headache of preserving, identifying, culling, reviewing, processing and producing data can be handed over to third party vendors.
Even though cloud computing is an immensely popular option, there are issues like security and control that put into question the reliability of cloud technology. The data stored in the cloud is potentially always in transit, and it is difficult for legal professionals to identify when and where information is being accessed and by whom. This creates a lot of uncertainty and concern for advisors as well as their clients.
In a cloud computing environment there is either no security or insufficient measures. Incomplete knowledge of the legal issues related to cloud security and the repercussions of failing to instate robust security control makes the cloud scenario a very vulnerable one. With FRCP amendments tightening the control over regulation enforcement, organizations found to have violated the rules may be subject to legal sanctions by the courts.
The benefits of cloud services for eDiscovery purposes are definitely worthwhile. However, the term ‘cloud’ has been used generally. The cloud can be classified as either private or public. The public cloud hosts applications on a remotely stored site and is not a very reliable option because it is freely accessible by anyone. If a vendor should shut a site down without prior notice, organizations become helpless and cannot implement any security measures to protect, access or move their data to some other site. This can be very risky. On the other hand, the private cloud is meant exclusively to host a particular organization’s applications on-site. These are also called SaaS, or Software as a Service, clouds.
The SaaS model is perfectly suited for litigation discovery purposes. Some advantages of using the SaaS model are:
- Facilitation of collaborating outside of firewalls
- Enhanced scalability capabilities
- Provides high end security
- Analysis of electronic disclosure processes in real-time
- Optimum cost benefits and maximized efficiency
Organizations should ensure that their IT departments and legal teams work collaboratively to employ the best cloud solutions for legal corporate investigations. Legal counselors should advise their clients on choosing appropriate cloud services which can help reduce costs and avoid regulation violations leading to additional lawsuits and heavy penalties.
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