When clients are consummating a deal with an ASP, their attorneys must make sure they take appropriate protections to keep privileged information confidential. The confidentiality issue extends to the protection of client data. Attorneys must make sure an ASP outsourcing contract ensures that their customers' data remains confidential. Alpert says buyers should insist in their outsourcing contracts that the ASP warrant it will protect the confidentiality of their data. If the ASP fails to do this, it is a clear breach of that warranty.
Access is another legal issue.
All buyers must have access to their data at the ASP's site. And the language of the contract must make sure it is clear the buyer owns its data. If the relationship sours and the buyer decides to move to a friendlier ASP, the contract must allow the buyer to retrieve its data without even a raised eyebrow from the vendor.