I define a Sign as anything which is so determined by something else, called its Object, and so determines an effect upon a person, which effect I call its Interpretant, that the latter is thereby mediately determined by the former.

— C. S. Peirce (@CSPeirceSpeaks) October 19, 2018

Go and ask a lawyer to collaborate and see what kind of respond you get. I have done this couple of times and the responses I have received so far are fearful (non-collaborative) responses. Rather than seek collaboration, I am asked questions which are geared towards providing them with information so that they can compete with me or put me in a less favorable position. I have also been challenged in other non-collaborative ways.

Saying so, I have also met some wonderful people who understand the meaning of collaboration and have acted collaboratively, not just saying they want to collaborate. The word collaboration has become a buzzy word in the world of ediscovery. Buzzy word gets attention! Just yesterday (or was it Friday?) I was invited to collaborate on producing a Glossary on ediscovery. I jumped at the idea as it was something I wanted to do when I first started this blog. More to come on this wonderful collaboration….

For me, sharing information takes more courage than talk of collaboration. On the buzzy use or talk of collaboration, read the article ‘Time to Work Together on Electronic Discovery’ posted by Clearwellsystem. I like the video blog: Information Security and eDiscovery.  Why? Mr. Ron Hedges covered confidentiality and privilege which are both non buzzy words but are the hide and seek in ediscovery actions. What is collaboration in ediscovery? Lawyers collaborating with IT people?  Is that it?

Besides giving the Information Commissioner tougher powers, organisations will need to improve transparency and accountability when dealing with personal information.

From the website, Jack Straw Justice Secretary said:

‘As new technologies have developed, the secure storage and careful sharing of personal information held by both the public and private sectors has become paramount.

Strong regulation and clear guidance is essential if we are to ensure the effective protection of personal data.

The changes we propose today will strengthen the Information Commissioner’s ability to enforce the Data Protection Act and improve the transparency and accountability of organisations dealing with personal information. This is very important if we are to regain public confidence in the handling and sharing of personal information.’

So now organizations will also have to add ‘sharing of personal information’ to their corporate governance policy or other ‘know your customer’ or ‘know your data’ policies. How organizations will deal with the data protection, privacy and sharing requirements will certainly add more drama to the arena of edisclosure or ediscovery.

Pretty soon organizations will also have posters on ‘Beware of Data!’. With a list of Do’s and Don’ts (like the ‘Health and Safety’ Notice). I hope the Do’s and Don’ts won’t be 100 pages like the guide from the Information Assurance Advisory Council (UK) (IAAC).

The IAAC published the Second Edition of the Directors and Corporate Advisors to Digital Investigations and Evidence. According to the IAAC website, the purpose of this guide is to make directors and, managers and their professional advisors aware of the issues involved in collecting, analysing and presenting digital evidence. The report can be downloaded here.

A great pity that the guide uses the terms ‘Forensic Computing’ and ‘Forensic Readiness Plan’’and at the same time stipulated that: ‘Although this guide is designed for use within the United Kingdom and the descriptions of the law refer to English law, many of the principles are universal in all jurisdictions’.

I just did a book search using ‘ediscovery’ on amazon.co.uk and got 12 books related to the subject matter. On ‘edisclosure’ I got none. There’re couple of books listed when I used the search term ‘electronic disclosure’ but only one is available on the amazon.co.uk site.

So, the IAAC Second Edition guide is a useful starting point for organisations looking for reliable sources of information on digital investigations and evidence. What’s more it’s free!
Many thanks to the work of the IAAC and to Professor Peter Sommer.

A decent textbook of legal principles (mainly common law jurisdictions) and a fair selection of chapters/articles on digital evidence.

Eventually, this blog will have a Glossary page for ‘all’ terms defined in the rules, guidelines and also their usage in arbitration.