Question

A US-headquartered company is subject to a US court order requiring production of documents stored by its cloud provider in a data center located in France. Company counsel notes that French blocking statutes and EU data protection law restrict the transfer of the requested personal data outside the EU. What is the MOST appropriate first step for the organization to take when responding to the eDiscovery request?

Accepted Answer

Seek to narrow the request and pursue a recognized lawful transfer mechanism (such as the Hague Evidence Convention or a court-supervised protective order) while consulting counsel in both jurisdictions

Answer

Immediately export and produce all responsive data to the US court to avoid contempt sanctions, since a valid court order overrides foreign privacy law

Answer

Refuse to produce any data and rely solely on the French blocking statute, since EU law always takes precedence over foreign court orders

Answer

Instruct the cloud provider to permanently delete the responsive French-hosted data so it cannot be compelled by either jurisdiction