Complying with overseas laws just got easier

Business is global but the law is stubbornly local.

Getting reliable advice on how to comply with privacy, data protection and cyber security laws in the countries where you do business is a notorious headache.

It’s all well and good to say “follow best practice and you’ll be fine”. But this approach doesn’t really work like it used to. There are many quite new and differing privacy laws in many countries across the world. The risk of not doing things by the book is much higher than it used to be.

Traditionally the only way to go has been to hire a lawyer in the local market. Easier said than done. 

First, the language barrier. This is real. Where do you start in getting recommendations for a lawyer in a non-English speaking country. Googling is going to be of very limited help. The only easy option – a big international law practice or consulting firm – is tremendously expensive and most are geared only to serving big corporate clients.

Second, specialist privacy and cyber lawyers are hard to find. They won’t necessarily be available to foreign clients. You will probably end up with a lawyer who normally does something else looking up data protection and privacy law for the very first time.

This situation is all too common in South Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan. These countries are lucrative markets but have very different legal frameworks from the English-speaking world. They also have regulatory agencies that are more active and stricter with enforcement than elsewhere.

Then there are developing markets like Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Philippines where data protection laws are new and enforcement is unpredictable. These are places where on the ground knowledge is more important than the letter of the law.

When it comes to getting privacy right in multiple countries, Waltzer is unique because we have spent years building relationships with experts in privacy, data protection and cyber security compliance across the Asia-Pacific. We have in-country consultants in most Asian markets - both legal and technical - who are locally-qualified and reliable.

If you need peace of mind about handling the data of customers from far-flung parts of the world, get in touch with Waltzer Consulting for a confidential discussion.