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If a law requires a website to perform a duty towards its users as far as technically feasible what is the extent ? Does it mainly take care of financxial costs? Meaning is something that is possible using existant technology but very expensive and has huge impact ( negative ) on the other users if little mistake is made in the process reasonable and technically feasible just because it is possible to do so considering that not performing it will not cause significant damage given technical measures ?

"Technically feasible" takes into account cost of technology or not ?

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    Your question is too generic. You might want to provide context and the statute or law you have in mind. The premise that "not performing it will not cause significant damage" suggests that the underlying duty is not so important in that law.
    – Iñaki Viggers
    Feb 23, 2021 at 15:58
  • For example if one is required to hand over all information possesed in a context must they try to recover deleted information ( which is costly but possible sometimes ) and provide it ?
    – saverightlife-somreone
    Feb 23, 2021 at 16:09
  • That is going to depend on what country this is in, and what specific law is involved. The exact provisions of the law will matter. Taken literally "technically feasible" says nothing aboiut cost, but most laws will not impose unlimited economic burdens on compliance.
    – David Siegel
    Feb 23, 2021 at 16:12
  • "must they try to recover deleted information". Roughly speaking, that depends on why & when the records were deleted as well as the likely relevance of the deleted information.
    – Iñaki Viggers
    Feb 23, 2021 at 16:23
  • "Technically feasible" takes into account cost of technology or not ?
    – saverightlife-somreone
    Feb 23, 2021 at 16:33

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"Technically feasible" takes into account cost of technology or not ?

There is no general yes-no answer because common law usually is not that specific. If anything, that level of prescriptive specificity is likelier to be found in statutory law than in common law. That is why I pointed out the relevance of the context, statute, or precedent you have in mind.

Legal precedent in common law jurisdictions tends to focus on whether the reasons and circumstances merit requiring stricter compliance for the matter(s) at issue. Using the example you outlined, the standard for compliance would be stricter if the removal of relevant data was unwarranted given the circumstances. This means that the party under that duty will have to make a greater effort, and thus incur greater expenses, so as to compensate his imprudent or wrongful elimination of data. By contrast, in the absence of a legal or equitable duty to preserve the data, the criterion of "technically feasible" is unlikely to encompass deleted records which reasonably were deemed irrelevant or obsolete at the time of deletion.

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  • Good answer. This very accurately states how the meaning is determined from context.
    – ohwilleke
    Feb 23, 2021 at 23:55
  • The data is deleted either periodically ( partially required by law ) as per a published policy or on explicit user request .
    – saverightlife-somreone
    Feb 24, 2021 at 13:33
  • @someone "as per a published policy or on explicit user request". That condition would typically release the website owner/controller from having to cover the expenses of data recovery.
    – Iñaki Viggers
    Feb 24, 2021 at 14:05

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