7 Tips for International eDiscovery

International eDiscovery adds an extra layer of complexity to the handling of electronic data. Privacy regulations, restrictions on the collection and transfer of information present unique challenges.

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The following are seven key issues to consider when dealing with data in foreign countries.

  1. Exposure to foreign jurisdictions

    Routine activities such as the acquisition, processing and review of data can have unexpected consequences when they are undertaken beyond national boundaries. For example, if data is transferred for the first time to the U.S., it may come under the jurisdiction of U.S. courts, which can provide U.S. litigants access to information that would otherwise not have been available to them.

  2. Local data protection laws

    While most countries protect the privacy interests of its nationals, privacy regulations are generally more rigorous abroad than they are in the U.S. In the European Union, for example, the E.U. Data Protection Directive regulates the processing of personal data. This directive essentially prohibits the transfer of data to another country that does not meet the E.U. standards for data protection.

    Additionally, many countries have enacted blocking statutes that prohibit and impose stiff penalties for the transfer of information to the U.S., even in response to discovery requests.

  3. Data acquisition abroad

    The team responsible for acquiring data in a foreign country must have first-hand understanding of the unique regulations in that country. Organizations abroad are not subject to discovery as in the U.S, and are not accustomed to data collections. In Europe, for example, data belongs to the employee who created it, not the employer. The collection team must be assume that the organization they are collecting from will not be familiar with the acquisition process and assume much of the responsibility.

  4. The need for local data processing facilities

    Unless the data has been specifically cleared for export, it should not be transferred abroad, particularly not to the U.S. If the data cannot be handled in its country of origin, an alternative is to have it processed in London where a U.S. service provider has facilities for this purpose.

  5. The need for Safe Harbor certification in the U.S.

    For data originating in Europe that must be sent to the U.S., it is advantageous to use a Safe Harbor certified service provider. This means that the service provider is qualified to process data in accordance with E.U. regulations. However, since data is typically expected to be produced to third parties in the U.S., it is important to make sure that these parties are also safe harbor certified.

  6. Processing foreign languages documents

    Data collected abroad is likely to contain multiple foreign languages. Service providers involved in any part of the data processing must have the means to identify foreign languages in the data set and provide the necessary tools to search, process, convert, host and export a wide range of foreign languages. To handle Asian languages such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Thai, your service provider’s systems must support Unicode languages (also known as double-byte character sets).

  7. Reviewing foreign languages documents

    Using native speakers is generally the most effective way to complete a first pass review. In cases where this is difficult to achieve, document translation can be useful. Machine translation is of limited value because it is often inaccurate. Human translation, which is much more accurate, can be cost-prohibitive or overly time consuming. It is therefore beneficial to balance available resources and screen documents with a combination of native speakers and machine translation, using human translation as necessary to enable the U.S. team to complete the review.


The experts at Epiq Systems, both in our U.S. and in the U.K. offices, are experienced in successfully preparing clients for international eDiscovery. Our Unicode compliant document review tool and processing engine, DocuMatrix and eDataMatrix, help clients effectively manage multilanguage files, and we are Safe Harbor certified.

If you would like further information, please contact Myriam