Merger, Acquisition Plans Should Include Privacy Due Diligence, Intel Attorney Says

Privacy staff at companies undergoing plans to acquire or merge with other companies should do whatever they can to gain a seat at the table to ensure privacy and data security issues are considered at all stages of the process, Daniel K. Christensen, senior privacy and security counsel at Intel Corp., recently said.

At the International Association of Privacy Professionals Privacy Academy in Bellevue, Wash., Christensen analogized a corporate acquisition to the adoption process. Corporations must consider privacy before the deal, during the takeover and at the “post-adoption” integration stage, much as prospective parents must ensure that every step of ...