Privacy & Data Security

• Built Environment
• Charity and Not-for-Profit
• Energy
• Financial Services
• Healthcare
• Life Sciences
• Technology
• Food, Agriculture & Beverage

Our lawyers have broad expertise in all aspects of privacy and data security law including:

• Data Protection: We provide a full range of advice to assist companies to comply with data protection regulations, and prepare for the incoming General Data Protection Regulation. This includes reviewing and drafting data subject consent notifications, drafting privacy and data protection policies, drafting data protection agreements and dealing with data protection concerns arising from commercial contracts.
  
• Data breach incidents: Security breaches and the resulting PR and legal consequences are an increasing risk for businesses. Our lawyers have extensive and highly regarded data breach incident expertise, and have acting on some of the world’s largest security breaches, assisting multi-national companies and public bodies in responding to data security incidents, particularly those with a cross-border dimension.
  
• Advice on new technologies and Internet of Things: Many of the most exciting and disruptive emerging technologies involve the processing of personal data. Working closely with both entrepreneurs and established innovators, our privacy lawyers have advised on the design and implementation of a wide variety of products, particularly in the consumer goods, security and web 2.0 sectors.

• Global Privacy Structure: As businesses seek to move information across borders and limit their regulatory risk, “privacy structures” are emerging alongside tax and corporate structures as a key strategic concern. We advise many household names on the design and implementation of their global privacy structures
• Investigations and Litigation: Regulatory investigations can impose a significant drain on an organisation’s resources. Our privacy team has represented many companies in investigations by the Irish Data Protection Commissioner and has successfully brought judicial review proceedings against decisions of the Commissioner.
• Compliance and Accountability: Many data security challenges can be prevented through the deployment of adequate safeguards in advance. As compliance will become a central obligation of data protection compliance under the GDPR, our privacy team works closely with companies, NGOs and government institutions, particularly those in the healthcare and education sectors, to ensure that their practices comply with data protection law.
• Law Reform: Privacy law is rapidly evolving. We advise clients on the commercial impact of legislative developments and assist in the preparation and submission of representations to legislative decision makers.

• We are Facebook’s standing EU privacy counsel having assisted Facebook throughout its audits by the Irish privacy regulator. We have acted for Facebook in significant litigation, including recent litigation with the Irish Data Protection Commissioner relating to the transfer of personal data to the United States. We also advise Facebook on the interaction between US law and EU privacy law and design strategies to mitigate potential jurisdictional conflicts, negotiatie cross-border data transfer agreements, deal with complex law enforcement issues and coordinate responses to data protection regulators across the globe.

• We are representing Adobe in its audit by the DPC and acted as Adobe’s EU counsel on a data security incident.