In today’s fast moving technologically advanced world legal counsel increasingly have to answer questions based on what they believe to be right, not legal.

Legal counsel at Telstra’s dispute resolution group, Rachael Falk, and Ninemsn general counsel Jenny Duxbury have both faced the difficulty many corporate counsels face when asked questions to which there might not be a legal answer yet.  “A lot of my time is being spent on issues regarding privacy and the privacy of our customers,” said Duxbury. “We have legislation, but it is limited in scope and does not cover all the issue we are facing.”

In light of this Duxbury says she often finds herself asking not what the law is, but rather “what would the customer be comfortable with?” Similarly, Falk says that in her area of work, she regularly uses the questions, ‘how would I defend this?’ when providing legal counsel.  “There are issues when internal clients ask you for legal advice about something that is not yet governed by a law,” she added. Stan Gallo, director at KPMG Forensic, supports this view: “The information age is driving economic growth, but there are risks. As the technologies are being developed at such a rapid pace, the legislation around them cannot keep up.” The three professionals were discussing issues surrounding new technology, data security and social media as part of the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association Corporate Counsel Day, held in Sydney on March 27.

Data and privacy is a particular issue for Telstra. As the nation’s largest telecommunications provider, the organisation is privy to a significant amount of information. “It’s not just our data, it’s our customers,” said Falk. “We need to get our minds around these issues as lawyers.”

Duxbury advises all corporate counsel and their organisations to take heed of how they use data and protect data. “Companies have to recognise that the way they deal with the privacy of customers’ data is core to their reputation,” she said. “The internet is going to be a platform for economic growth in the future. Large scale data collection is a critical element of that. But, we have to get the equation right in terms of the level of protection we offer our customers.”