WHAT DID I JUST TWEET A CLOSER LOOK AT HOW E-DISCOVERY COULD IMPACT SOCIAL NETWORKING

Abstract

Electronic discovery (e-discovery) is a growing concern for organizations from a legal, regulatory, and compliance perspective. E-discovery refers to the discovery of an organization’s electronically stored information (ESI). ESI can include such information as emails, instant messages, postings from social networking sites. At first glance, it appears that the current e-discovery rules are potentially ripe for abuse, including submitting frivolous lawsuits that can cost the defendant organizations millions of dollars in personnel resources, time, and technical support costs, to an invasion of privacy of proprietary or confidential data under the guise of legal disclosure. According to a 2008 study [3] nearly 70% of corporations felt that they were not adequately prepared to comply with e-discovery rules and entering into litigation if a lawsuit was presented. The purpose of this paper is to further the ongoing discussion of the benefits and potential pitfalls of e-discovery and to argue the need for additional research on e-discovery rules and how employee use of social networking sites can affect litigation.