Who owns the customer? The emerging law of commercial transactions in electronic customer data

Commercial uses of customer information are expanding more rapidly than the law governing transactions in such information. Although careful attention to contract terms can reduce the scope of potential problems, contractual privity may not exist among all,the interested parties. Data privacy obliga tions may render some contract terms unenforceable. The absence of clearly defined statutory rights and priorities among competing interests in custom er databases is likely to persist for some time. In the face of such legal uncertainty, practical steps, such as improving the security of the informa tion systems in which such assets are stored, will be important strategies for businesses with valuable customer databases.