Xerox Legal Services announced on Monday that it has opened a data center in Hong Kong in response to growing demand for eDiscovery services there.
Initially, XLS’s data center will provide all aspects of eDiscovery services from data hosting to data processing, but not document or data review.
“What we’re looking to do is see how the center grows,” said Elizabeth Fritts, managing director of Xerox Legal Services. “We see the market potential as pretty significant.”
Fritts added that Hong Kong data center includes two separate Tier 3 certified facilities, which indicates the infrastructure meets various requirements, including that it is dual-powered and in the event of a power failure, data is still available. The site will be staffed by three personnel who handle client services, sales and data processing.
The launch also highlights Hong Kong’s emerging role as a regional hub for companies looking to transfer data out of mainland China: According to Ken Rashburn, a partner at the Barton law firm, who focuses on global data privacy laws, there are many companies that transfer data from China to Hong Kong, where a different set of rules exist that enable transfer to the rest of the world.
“I don’t think you can move [data] out of China,” said Rashburn, who co-chairs the American Bar Association’s International Litigation Committee. “There are laws that prohibit that. But sending it to Hong Kong is considered easier, less violative of China’s laws. And Hong Kong has its own set of rules.”
He added, “What I’ve seen is people will move data from China to Hong Kong, and then from Hong Kong to the rest of the world.”
Still, Rashburn characterized the situation as evolving. China is currently drafting a new set of rules that could put restrictions on using Hong Kong as a transitional hub to move data from other parts of mainland China. The finalization date for China’s security regulations is uncertain, he said.
Meanwhile, in 2014, Hong Kong’s judiciary created a framework for what parties must produce in eDiscovery.
Xerox Legal Services is the legal and compliance division of Xerox Corp. Earlier this year, it announced a managed services center outside Delhi, India where data review is performed.