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The following is not meant to be legal advice.

Cynthia Jackson of Baker & McKenzie recently published “Plan Now for Managing Electronic Data and Avoid Tomorrow’s Legal Risks”.  In the publication, she gives best practices tips.

Electronic data concerns include privacy issues, document destruction, unsolicited emails.  Jackson discusses how vital use of encryption is for scrambling transmitted information. Jackson cites compliance issues by public companies relating to Sarbanes-Oxley and recordkeeping, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. 

With respect to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Jackson cites Boccoli v. Echostar Communications Corp., 229 F.R.D. 506 as an example of the need to preserve data when a company knows or should know of an impending legal claim. 

On tips to prevent misuse of electronic data, Jackson suggests that companies plan ahead to address hostile work environment claims, trade secret thefts by knowing what is legally required to be retained, understanding international laws that may conflict with United States industry practices.  She recommends that companies assign personnel to manage electronic data flow, such as identifying where data is stored, adopting policies, training and auditing employees on data management use.