The minefield that is overseas data storage

Have a good hard think before you store data overseas and make sure you aware of the data privacy and access laws of other countries before you trust them with your precious company data.

That’s the advice from Forensics Group founder Kris Haworth in an interesting article looking into the potential hazards of storing data outside of the US.

Haworth says that if your data is stored overseas, it would very unwise to assume you will be able to access it if faced with litigation. US lawyers might find themselves in a difficult situation as they are obliged to abide by certain laws which don’t necessarily apply to data access in other countries, which have their own regulations.

As storing data in the cloud becomes more prevalent, Haworth says it’s increasingly important to address this issue as there is currently no right to discovery in international law.

Data privacy principal David Melnick agrees and says companies need to first assess the risks and put safeguards in place if they plan to share their intellectual property with a third party, especially when it is overseas.

All the experts quoted were united in the view that companies have a tendency to ignore the research needed into the legislation of the country where the data storage facility is located. This oversight is due to the borderless nature of the Internet.

Haworth acknowledges that there are good reasons for storing data overseas and the wisest way to handle cross border data storage is to seek legal counsel, who can help protect your data as much as possible.