Data regulation and cyber

Helping our clients craft their data strategy and defense

We operate at the intersection of data privacy and related regulation.

With dedicated experts across Europe, the US and Asia working seamlessly together, privacy and security is at our core. We also bring in experts across employment, antitrust, tax and consumer law to deliver integrated advice that stands up to scrutiny from multiple regulators and overlapping trends in data regulation, risk management and tech. As global authorities investigate the antitrust and consumer law implications of data uses, we can mobilize our multidisciplinary team to offer a strategy that takes all angles into account.

We regularly support companies on digital transformation projects and data-driven product and service innovation. Leveraging our global and integrated data regulation know-how, we implement privacy-by-design approaches and help companies monetize data, ensuring the processing and profiling practices of innovators are compliant with data regimes around the world, as well as meeting data ethics requirements. We also help companies acquire rights in data (both from an IP and regulatory perspective) and we know what’s “market” in data licensing to secure the value of investments or partnerships as regulators enhance their enforcement powers for data protection issues on deals.

Freshfields is a market-leader in handling data crises, investigations, and class actions (including GDPR fine proceedings). In the event of a data incident, we help companies respond in a way that manages their exposure, positions them to defend follow-on litigation in multiple jurisdictions, and ensures that they can quickly rebuild consumer and stakeholder trust. Our team includes lawyers who have held senior posts with governmental and regulatory authorities, and we pride ourselves in understanding multiple perspectives on an incident.

Working with the Freshfields Hub and Freshfields Lab, we have developed tech tools and processes to streamline project management on large-scale data projects – from breach notifications to subject access requests, data contract review to privacy monitoring – our tools ensure efficiency on multijurisdictional projects.

We invest in staying at the forefront of data law and market practice, and our global experience with regulators brings unrivalled insights. Not only do we have an EU Public Affairs team that engages directly with Brussels on the EU Commission’s policy pipeline, but we also are experienced in drafting data privacy laws, and have advised on market-first investigations and trailblazing data-driven transactions.