This post was written by Kevin Xu and John L. Hines, Jr.

U.S. courts often disregard foreign data privacy laws in the context of discovery. Litigants sometimes find themselves compelled to produce under U.S. law what they are forbidden to produce under the privacy laws of another country. However, a recent U.S. court decision indicates increasing sensitivity to the privacy expectations of persons abroad.

On August 27, 2010, in connection with In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, the court ruled that some data collected and processed in the EU would have been unlawful to transfer to the United States under the EU Privacy Directive, and thus, should not be subject to production in U.S. litigation.Continue Reading Federal Court in NY Says EU Documents Containing Personal Information are Off Limits in Class Action Litigation