Discovering the Internet of Things: Measuring Impact on Tomorrow’s Litigation & Compliance Strategies

Screen Shot 2014-10-23 at 4.15.58 PMby Kenneth A. Gary, JD

The beginning of a new business, technology and legal inflection point is staring at us, chuckling at point blank.   The Internet of Things (IoT) has quickly ascended to be the “new frontier” for technology vendors to explore, customers to consider and the legal community to fear.

But what is the “Internet of Things” really?  Depending on who you ask, and who answers… the answer to the riddle appears to be in the shadowy area now linking the once inanimate objects with the animated… and here’s the kicker:  with no human interaction whatsoever.

IoT is a development in which everyday objects such as household appliances, light bulbs, coffee machines, automobiles, personal devices and health devices that have network connectivity, allowing them to send and receive data without the need of human interaction.

Today there are around 10 billion internet connected devices in the world. According to Morgan Stanley, by 2020, there will be 75 billion internet connected devices. This huge projected rise in IoT devices strongly suggests we are at a defining moment in technology history. IoT qualifies as a potential inflection point due to the fact that each individual’s personal digital world will be able to interact with the world in general – autonomously. This independent (machine to machine) communication capability will also generate a great deal more data subject to potential federal oversight, litigation (eDiscovery), and data breaches.

The Rise of the Machines

The rise of the IoT is bringing into focus a complicating and costly problem – eDiscovery and litigation hold. An example of the eDiscovery problem that will crop up sooner rather than later; how would you respond to a discovery request to provide data from potentially relevant corporate IoT devices such as the break room coffee maker or refrigerator, the restroom hand dryer, a company supplied FitBit fitness tracker, individual cubicle printers, and smart office light bulbs?

An issue with the above example is that most of these IoT devices won’t have adequate data storage capacity making eDiscovery of these devices especially time sensitive. Imagine trying to place a litigation hold on the log data for a specific floor section’s smart light bulbs?

The universe of potentially relevant information will increase geometrically complicating an already messy collection and review process. As plaintiff’s attorneys (and government agencies) become educated on the discovery potential for the IoT, organizations will need to proactively plan for a more demanding and invasive eDiscovery environment.

The scope of eDiscovery will have to expand. Instead of corporate legal working with just the IT department for eDiscovery planning and response, they may also have to work with facilities maintenance, property management, food service, and corporate carpool management.

The adoption of IoT poses additional questions that will eventually need to be addressed; will companies demand non-IoT devices to reduce the cost and risk during discovery? Will IoT manufacturers be forced to design IoT platforms that can automatically collect log files/data from all corporate IoT devices and secure them under a defensible litigation hold? How much additional storage will be required to store the IoT data and how long should it be retained?

The Future Begins Now

Both corporate legal departments and law firms should proactively develop an IoT expertise to stay ahead of this new eDiscovery challenge.

For those firms issuing eDiscovery requests, care should be taken to:

  • Build discovery request templates that include all potential IoT discovery targets
  • Train attorneys on the discovery implications/potential of the IoT
  • Purchase systems and expertise to analyze IoT data

For those companies and firms responding to discovery requests, care should be taken to:

  • Create a new discovery policy/plan that includes IoT considerations
  • Understand and map all IoT devices in their organization
  • Put systems in place to automatically capture data from these IoT devices
  • Adopt systems to ensure all IoT data can be quickly found and secured under a defensible litigation hold
  • Create and apply data retention policies for all IoT data
  • Purchase systems that can analyze IoT data
  • Train all affected employees on the importance of eDiscovery and the IoT

The Internet of Everything

The key to eDiscovery in the coming IoT world is to get started now. The IoT is growing quickly and is already catching many organizations unprepared. For those companies and firms that have not yet started to plan for eDiscovery in the IoT, the most effective way to quickly prepare is to partner with a discovery service provider that’s already focused on the potential issues and solutions.

OmniVere provides best-in-class electronic discovery solutions, litigation support & forensics consulting services.  OmniVere continues to lead the way in offering flexible solutions to clients throughout the EDRM lifecycle, including compliance measures and data technology consulting.  To speak to an OmniVere expert today, please click here.

Kenneth Gary is Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at OmniVere.  Prior this venture, Mr. Gary was Publisher of The National Law Journal & Legal Times.