Advising Small Startups on Big Privacy Issues
Modern startup technology companies often are small enterprises facing a very large problem: myriad privacy issues and no legal budget to deal with them.
April 08, 2015 at 11:24 AM
2 minute read
The original version of this story was published on Corporate Counsel
Modern startup technology companies often are small enterprises facing a very large problem: myriad privacy issues and no legal budget to deal with them. Even if a startup's legal team knows the right advice to provide, will it be practical enough for a nascent business to execute? According to Matthew Lawless of Taft Stettinius & Hollister in a recent post, “Your advice, while perhaps the same as it would be for other clients in terms of your legal recommendations, should therefore be more solution-oriented.”
Here are his two top tips for dealing with privacy issues at companies that don't have big legal budgets yet.
1. Change Business Practices
Up-and-coming businesses should, quite simply, avoid major privacy issues, if possible. Lawless uses the example of collecting information from EU residents. Maybe the European launch of your app could wait until after its already successful in the U.S., he suggests. Or if the company wants to collect personal information from children, why not get it from their parents instead? “A lawyer's role is to identify the company's obligations and offer advice, including advice on possibly less expensive alternatives,” he says.
2. Hire a Third Party
If the company doesn't have the budget to implement expensive privacy law requirements, Lawless suggests hiring a third party that already has the controls in place. This can still be risky for the startup, which could be on the hook as the information owner should something go wrong, says Lawless. But choosing a vendor with an excellent reputation could mitigate the risk.
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