48 LEXPERT MAGAZINE
|
MARCH/APRIL 2018
FEATURE
IT HAS BECOME AXIOMATIC
to say we live in an age of omni-
present Big Data where, for instance, while you watch television, or more
likely your computer, it is watching you back. As you stream an episode of
e Office via Netflix for instance, Netflix tracks and stores your viewing
habits and tastes. It then processes that information through a proprietary
algorithm and provides you with further entertainment recommendations.
Computers know us better than we know ourselves, as economist Seth
Stephens-Davidowitz writes in Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and
What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are (2017: Harper
Collins). Apparently, Netflix figured out early on that what viewers said
they wanted to watch was not always the same as what they did watch.
Big Data, of course, goes well beyond Netflix to encompass transactions
conducted by credit card via the Internet and the Internet-of-things. ese
Big Data assets are increasingly valued by companies. Lawyers tasked with
helping their corporate clients purchase, merge or partner with companies
that hold Big Data are stepping up to the challenge of dealing with them
profitably. is involves negotiating multi-party licensing agreements and
complying with various regulatory requirements. Before all that, there may
be a landmine of information of uncertain provenance; how is that to be
factored into the transaction?
DUE DILIGENCE ON ANY ASSETS IN AN M&A
IS DIFFICULT ENOUGH TO CONDUCT. BUT WHEN
YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT BIG DATA, WHO KNOWS
WHAT BREACHES, WHAT INFORMATION,
NEED TO BE CONSIDERED?
BY ANTHONY A. DAVIS
WHAT ARE YOU BUYING?
PHOTO:
SHUTTERSTOCK
