By consultants from FTI Technology

Information Governance, E-Discovery and Privacy Experts Predict Changes for the 2020 Data Landscape

More than ever before, businesses are being forced to think critically about their data. Privacy laws, new compliance standards, data breaches and increasing consumer awareness are driving change across technology adoption, information governance, risk management and electronic discovery. 

FTI Technology's consultants practice in these important areas and focus on developing solutions that manage corporate and legal risk as they relates to the changing data landscape. From across various teams, experts at the firm have shared their top predictions for the data trends that will shape 2020. These include:

• "Over the last two years, data privacy have shaped a new risk and compliance standard. The knock-on effect that we'll see in the new year will be companies thinking more critically about their data from an opportunity standpoint in addition to risk. When data is better understood, better catalogued, better managed, etc., it can ultimately be better leveraged as a valuable business asset. Organizations that approach data privacy compliance with this mindset will be strongly positioned. Those that don't will be left behind." - Eric Pender, Director
  

• "In the wake of privacy laws and data misuse scandals, social media companies have tightened their grip on programmatic access to the consumer data they collect and store. The disruption this has wrought on the advertising industry has been widely reported-but these policies affect e-discovery as well. In 2020, I think we'll see an increasing number of e-discovery matters in which efficient data collection will be hindered by new access restrictions among social media companies." - Tim Anderson, Managing Director
  

• "With the California Consumer Privacy Act coming into force, organizations are going to feel the pinch for resources needed to comply. This will include large companies spending in the range of $1-2 million on establishing and maintaining compliance." - T. Sean Kelly, Senior Director
  

• "Privacy and security will play into every new technology that comes out in the next year. While that is a good thing for consumers and individuals, computer forensic investigators are going to run up against some obstacles in how these changes impact their ability to collect data for investigations. Trusted technologies for preserving digital evidence will need to be revamped and rethought. Companies need to keep this in mind as it will impact what data they can copy from mobile devices, social media sites and a wide array of other sources." - Dan Roffman, Senior Managing Director
  

• "This year is going to see a big upturn in the push to repaper trillions of dollars' worth of LIBOR contracts. As the market starts to adopt alternative rates in advance of LIBOR being phased-out in 2021, financial institutions will need to pivot how they manage their contracts to effect this transition with minimal disruption and cost to their business. This will drive a major thrust in global interest and adoption for new contract management technologies and services in 2020." - Richard Palmer, Senior Managing Director
  

• "It's possible that we'll see the first formalized cryptocurrency regulation come to fruition in the new year. At the very least, financial agencies (including FinCEN, SEC and the IRS) will increase discussions on cryptocurrency policy and guidance." - Steve McNew, Senior Managing Director