Privacy Law and Privacy Litigation - Part 1: Introduction - Technology & Litigation

Your friendly neighborhood technology lawyer here: Clients and colleagues often ask me to explain what I mean when I say "technology litigation". And, to be frank, that term is really composed of several different subsets of the law. One such subset is privacy law. Over the next several blog posts, I will provide a general overview of privacy law and privacy litigation to arm you, my humble reader, with the knowledge to assist your company (as well impress your friends at parties).

The Parts:

My analysis will address the following questions:

What is Privacy Law: This part will focus on the academic, legislative and practical definitions of privacy law, as well as its general subparts / components
What is the current state of the law: In this subsection, I will focus on the various statutory schemes and case law that has developed related to the privacy law. I will also highlight the current black-letter legal principles at play in privacy litigation.
What does it mean for your business: The third substantive subsection will focus on the implications of privacy law to the general business. It will focus on: (1) regulatory compliance; (2) protection and use of your own data; (3) protection and use of your client's data; and (4) the implications of privacy laws on litigation a business may face.
What will the future hold: In the final subsection, I will focus on the future of privacy law. In particular, I will look at the current and future issues revolving around the different approaches to privacy take by the United States and the European Union. I will also look at the implications on privacy law of advanced technology and the increased use of social media.

Why it matters:

Perhaps, however, the most important question to be address is: why does privacy law matter to me? The succinct answer is that any business or business owner seeking to profit in the 21st Century must have, at the very least, an elementary level grasp of privacy law because governments throughout the world will demand compliance with an expanding set of legislative and precedential authority. It is this level of education that I plan to provide over the next few blog posts.

So, stay tuned.