Field of activity

Christina Maria Schwaiger has been working primarily for the department of TMC Technology, Media and Telecommunications since May 2019. Her focus is on the topic of data protection. Previously, she was an employee of the Austrian Data Protection Authority for several years. In doing so, she was able to gain valuable experience in both national and cross-border proceedings.

Specialisation

Christina Maria Schwaiger advises and represents her clients in the areas of data protection law, IT law, e-commerce, social media and e-marketing as well as commercial law. She provides her clients with comprehensive support in the area of GDPR compliance (including drafting data protection declarations, conducting data protection impact assessments, drafting contracts for commissioned processing/shared responsibility) and offers GDPR audit support in cooperation with civil engineer DI Dr. Wolfgang Prentner (ZTP). In addition, she represents her clients in particular in proceedings before the data protection authority, the Federal Administrative Court (BVwG), the Administrative Court of Appeal (VwGH) and the civil courts in areas of data protection law. 

IT / E-Commerce / Commercial: In the area of IT law, she is regularly entrusted with the review and drafting of licence agreements, software agreements (SaaS), etc. She also provides legal advice in the area of e-commerce and commercial law. In the area of e-commerce and commercial, she is particularly responsible for the review and drafting of B2B and B2C GTC, the review and drafting of websites, apps, contractual documents, etc. with regard to compliance with consumer protection regulations (KSchG, FAGG, FernFinG, ECG) as well as the review and drafting of contracts in the area of commercial agency law.

Furthermore, the areas of e-marketing and social media, which have become significantly more advisory-intensive due to increasing regulation in recent years - as well as in the coming years due to new legal acts such as the Data Governance Act, the Digital Markets Act, the Digital Service Act and the E-Privacy Regulation - are also part of her areas of expertise.

Previous work experience / education

Christina Maria Schwaiger completed her law studies at the University of Salzburg in 2015. Already during her studies, she worked as a research assistant at the Institute for Public Law, European Law and International Law, with a focus on data protection and IT law. Subsequently, she joined the Austrian Data Protection Authority as an officer. Her areas of expertise included the conduct of national and international complaints procedures, and she also participated at the European level in the drafting of guidelines of the European Data Protection Committee (EDSA) and as a member of various subgroups, such as the International Transfer Subgroup. She was also a member of the Chair Coordination Team, which provided essential support to the chair of the EDSA, Dr Andrea Jelinek, in carrying out the tasks assigned by the GDPR. 

During her time at the DPA, she was also able to successfully complete her bachelor's degree in economics as well as the basic training of the general administrative service (in accordance with the Basic Training Ordinance of the Federal Chancellery). 

In May 2019, Christina Maria Schwaiger moved from the data protection authority to the law firm CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz and has since been providing her clients with advice based on her wealth of experience. 

Lectures

Christina Maria Schwaiger regularly gives lectures on topics such as data protection, e-commerce, digitalisation and IT law. She is also a lecturer at the Danube University Krems for the postgraduate course "Data Protection and Privacy".