Margot Laporte was quoted on the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) recent revisions to its corporate criminal enforcement policies, noting the new guidance lacks an explanation of what factors the DOJ uses to distinguish between proper adherence to data privacy laws and blocking statutes, and improper adherence. "And so that certainly is a gray area," Laporte said. "Regardless of the size, or the sophistication of the company, there needs to be an ongoing discussion with enforcement authorities to explain what the company has done, what the company will do and what the challenges are." For companies that don't succeed in developing credibility and building a transparent discussion with the department, Laporte noted it's important to keep in mind that prosecutors can independently seek the cooperation of foreign law enforcement authorities in order to compel the production of documents, through mutual legal assistance treaties or other government channels. "This creates a risk that foreign law enforcement authorities could become interested in the investigation as well, whereas perhaps they would not have been alerted to it or interested absent the DOJ request for data."