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Cloud Computing: eDiscovery and the Cloud Don't Mix Well — At Least Not Yet
eDiscovery and Cloud Computing are a bit like oil and water, at least just yet in these early days of the cloud.
The cost efficiencies and time savings that Cloud-based services provide make it seem like the choice to move to the cloud is a no-brainer. Survey after survey show what makes it seem like everyone is jumping aboard the Cloud. But does it make sense for you and your business?
Much of the answer to that question depends on the kind of data that you are hosting and the value of that data to your organization. A recent article on CIO Update highlights a number of problems/headaches with remotely hosting data that can show up the day that an eDiscovery request hits your desk.
1. A response to an eDiscovery request typically must outline the locations of stored data. Cloud systems, in their incredible efficiency may have cached your dataon multiple servers located in multiple global locations. Your retention schedule may have said that something is deleted, but your cloud provider may have kept a backup copy of it somewhere. This issue of not knowing where your data and data copies/backups physically reside is at the root of a number of problems.
2. The law isn’t clear but organizations are typically responsible to put a “legal hold” on electronic data requested by eDiscovery. Most cloud vendors today are not capable of making this happen with the data you host. What do you do?
3. Very complex problems can result if data requested with eDiscovery is actually being hosted by a vendor on servers in another country. Different countries typically have different laws and different privacy policies, often quite different. Which jurisdiction does the data fall under and which country’s laws apply?
4. Who is responsible should eDiscovery requests have some sort of technical problem, the vendor or the cloud user? Again the law is not at all clear, but it likely that the cloud user will need to shoulder much of the responsiblity.
5. If the cloud vendor inadvertantly deletes data being requested for eDiscovery, is the cloud vendor legally liable, especially if there is no mention of the need to respond to eDiscovery requests in your contract with the cloud vendor?
