International Data Protection law firm

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The challenges arising from data are countless and inescapable in our maturing technological landscape. To future-proof your organisation, and unlock opportunity from your data, you need alert and experienced lawyers who will deliver practical advice. Our team of experts includes former regulators who have been right at the heart of the development of the legal landscape in this critical area.

One-stop-shop

Clients turn to CMS to advise on global data privacy, protection and information security projects. Leading multinational companies, many of which hold large amounts of sensitive data and are heavily regulated, instruct us to advise on multi-jurisdictional projects.

Global AND local

Our teams are flexible in that they handle both large multinational projects but can also deep-dive for niche, country-specific advice. The teams are on the ground in over 40 countries, speak the local language and understand the local laws – but crucially in a global context.

Pragmatism and business acumen

CMS has a knack for turning legal advice into practical solutions that make sense not just to your legal teams, but to your other employees, such as the HR function, or software engineers.

Please reach out to any of our Technology, Media and Communications and data protection lawyers should you have an issue to explore. to find out more about data protection and data regulation offerings.

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GDPR Enforcement Tracker Report 2023
A warm welcome to the fourth edition of the GDPR Enforcement Tracker Report...
Data Law Navigator
Use the Data Law Navigator for a quick look at data protection laws in...
CMS Breach Assistant app
A head start during the first critical hours of a data breach

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06/03/2024
The Mobile Century 2024
CMS is delighted to support The Mobile Century, a publication written by women in the digital space, published by the Global Telecom Women’s Network (GTWN). The Mobile Century provides a global perspective on the most important issues facing the digital technology sector, while championing the role and contribution of women leaders in bringing about meaningful change. These characteristics align closely with the professional and cultural values of CMS’ Technology, Media and Communications Practice. The promise and anticipation around Artificial Intelligence has captivated worldwide attention over the past year like no other recent technological revolution. Governments around the world have rushed to understand how they can respond to generative AI, ensuring that their industries are well placed to capture maximum value from this innovation, whilst also not exposing their populations to undue risks. This edition of The Mobile Century includes an insightful essay by CMS Partner and Co-Head of the TMC Sector Group, Dóra Petrányi on finding the appropriate balance between AI ethics and AI regulation. It also includes an inspiring fireside chat between Dóra and Francesca Rossi, who is a computer scientist, an IBM Fellow and the IBM Global AI Ethics Leader. At the same time, society is facing other new challenges, as the digital natives – those who only know a digital world – see all aspects of their lives transformed. As certain jobs and even professions are being transformed by digital technology, what does the future look like for those who are inheriting our digital world? What do governments, regulators and industry itself need to do to ensure the benefits of these technologies outweigh the risks that have emerged?At CMS, we continue to be honoured to support the GTWN and its flagship magazine The Mobile Century, which, once again, is dense with thought-pro­vok­ing articles from inspiring leaders. We hope the articles motivate you, as they do us, to think about our responsibilities and the wider impact of our companies on the world around us.
28/11/2023
International Digital Regulation Hub
Following the EU Commission plan “A Europe fit for the digital age”, we have witnessed a lot of digital regulations in the EU including DMA and DSA, AI Act, Data Act and there is still more to come. Whilst presenting companies with a tumultuous landscape to navigate, the legal obligations imposed also present opportunities to develop their business in a new digital framework safeguarding responsible business practices, fair competition and personal data. The CMS Digital Regulation Hub is home to our Digital Regulation Tracker Tool, providing an overview of the key regulatory instruments for area of law, sectors and business activities which are critical for decision makers as they adapt to the increasingly digital landscape. In addition to this unique tool, we explore the impact this tsunami of regulation is having for businesses across a variety of industries and how GCs can ride the waves to stay ahead of the curve. Our latest re­port il­lus­trates the key findings across Platforms, Content providers, Life Sciences & Healthcare, Energy & Infrastructure, Banking & Finance and Automotive industries. To discuss how to cope with the challenges of Digital Regulations and to explore the opportunities for your business, please contact one of our International experts.
20/11/2023
CMS Expert Guide: Data Law Navigator
Data provides a whole range of opportunities but also includes new and unique risks for companies, governments and individuals. From sector-specific nuances to local derogations from the EU GDPR, sim­ul­tan­eously...
Comparable
21/05/2023
GDPR Enforcement Tracker Report
A warm welcome... ... to the fourth edition of the GDPR Enforcement Tracker Report – the anniversary edition celebrating five years of GDPR. In the five years since the GDPR became applicable its powerful framework for imposing fines has certainly helped to raise awareness and encourage compliance efforts – just as the European legislator intended. At the same time, the risk of fines of up to EUR 20 million or 4% of a company’s global annual turnover can also lead to fear and reluctance or ignorance about compliance issues. We still believe that facts are better than fear. This is why we continuously update our list of publicly known fines in the GDPR  Enforcement Tracker and started the GDPR Enforcement Tracker Report as an annual deep dive approach to provide you with more insights into the world of GDPR fines. As in the three previous editions, the GDPR Enforcement Tracker Report starts with the Executive Summary (also available as a PDF version), followed by the “Numbers and Figures” section and the “Enforcement Insights per business sector” (also including the overarching employment category. The “Enforcement Insights per country” provide background on the specific enforcement framework under national law. Some remarks on our methodology can be found at the very end of the report.
23/03/2023
On the Pulse webinar series 2023 - Spring
Welcome to the launch of the On the Pulse webinar series
22/11/2022
Global Life Sciences & Healthcare Forum 2022 – Recordings & Presentations
Uncertain times, an evolving legal framework: managing risks and ensuring social responsibility in the life sciences & healthcare sector The risks of AI in the future of life sciences came under the microscope at a landmark legal Forum in September. Healthcare is racing ahead in adopting new technologies across drug discovery, development, manufacturing and supply chain but experts predict a tail-whip of disputes and contract friction. Digital transformation has the potential to improve every aspect of healthcare and the pharma industry but it also impacts data protection, IT security, contract design, liability and regulation. The annual CMS Global Life Sciences and Healthcare Forum brought together high-level industry and legal experts to discuss sector intelligence and best practice as well as issues ranging from cyber breaches and cryptocurrency wrangles to fall-outs over trade secrets and intellectual property (IP).“AI offers amazing opportunities to advance life sciences and usher in transformative medicine such as cell and gene therapy, improved diagnostics and analytics but it also comes with concerns as legal and contractual risks are still being understood and evaluated,” says Nick Beckett, Global Co-Head of CMS Life Sciences & Healthcare Sector Group“Science and technology are moving forward very quickly but we are finding that the detail and strategy of what to do to mitigate risks or resolve them is lagging behind. These are critically important issues that companies need to address and the Forum examined the implications and solutions.”AI is booming and a recent report by analysts Grand View Research forecast that the global AI in healthcare market will grow from its current value of $10.4 billion at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38.4% from 2022 to 2030. AI is fast becoming a significant element of every aspect of healthcare and legal departments and business units are being challenged to respond. The Forum, which was held in Brussels and online on Thursday, September 29, had a packed agenda covering technology transformation, Environmental, Sustainability and Governance, supply chain disruption, regulatory frameworks and the changing commercial landscape. The scale of challenge was evidenced in the recent CMS Technology Transformation: Managing Risks in a Changing Landscape report which revealed that 56% of corporate counsel and risk managers expect an increase in AI-related disputes, while 50% believe that the use of AI technologies will lead to risks and disputes that cannot currently be foreseen. Disputes will be driven by issues arising from IP and trade secrets, the use of AI, smart contracts, cryptocurrencies and cloud services, they be­lieve.“Or­gan­isa­tions are likely to see new types of risks and disputes emerge from the use of new technologies such as AI and crypto­cur­ren­cies. Many businesses are playing catch-up in understanding the risks associated with these new technologies,” says Lee Gluyas, Partner, CMS. “Whilst no business can eliminate risks completely, those that think ahead, plan early and actively manage risk will give themselves a substantial ad­vant­age.”Fea­tured keynote speakers from the United Nations Health and Development Team, general counsel from leading pharma companies, Boston Consulting Group, financial services multinational Aon and CMS sector specialists.
08/11/2022
Technology Transformation – Media
The media sector is known to be highly competitive, with that competition driving innovation. Older media businesses have had to grapple with disruptive new entrants. And those new entrants are constantly working to deliver better and more engaging content and user experiences to maintain their advantage. Digitisation has changed how media companies interact with their audience in ways we could not have imagined just a few years ago, but this comes with risk. This report is a deep dive into the data first produced for the report Technology Transformation: Managing Risks in a Changing Landscape. This saw over 500 corporate counsel and risk managers surveyed from multiple industries across the world. Here we look in detail at the 75 respondents from the media sector, and their perspectives on the risks associated with busi­ness-crit­ic­al technologies, including emerging technologies. What did we find? Media is a dynamic sector and can be an early adopter of many novel technologies as companies push for competitive advantages to create and satisfy customer demand. As we look to the future, the sector does seem underprepared in some areas, which is a potential cause for concern. Download the Technology Transformation media sector report now to read aboutThe principal drivers in the adoption of busi­ness-crit­ic­al technology in the media sectorConfidence in managing tech-related risks among senior media executivesFuture threats from new technologies like AI and blockchainWhich plans and processes media companies are putting in place to protect tech in­fra­struc­ture­Cul­tur­al barriers to managing tech risks in the media sectorPreferred approaches to dispute resolution in the media sector
08/11/2022
CMS Expert Guide to the impact of GDPR in non-EU countries
The European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR“) is an interesting piece of legislation for several reasons but especially due to its application to businesses not connected to the...
06/11/2022
Facing the opportunities and challenges of a vibrant life sciences sector
Digital advances and innovative therapies are pushing the boundaries of health and the legal world has to keep paceLife sciences are fizzing with ingenuity and innovation with revolutionary gene and cell drug discovery and digital advances pushing the frontiers of global healthcare. But the transformative promise is freighted with complex concerns over sustainability, affordability, digital security, contracts and IP ownership. The issues range from scientific technicalities to existential and ethical questions over Artificial Intelligence’s ability to generate approaches free from human hand. The changing landscape was brought into focus at the CMS Global Life Sciences and Healthcare Forum 2022 where experts highlighted the challenges and explored guiding principles. The panel, chaired by CMS London partner Louise Boswell, heard that current economic pressures and geo-political shockwaves are radiating across business performance and supply chains, which are crucial to commercial viability and the landscape is being further stressed by ambitious goals to reduce carbon emissions. Laetitia Szaller, General Counsel & VP Business Development at AM Pharma, told delegates that a new pragmatism was needed when negotiating collaborations with partner companies and she emphasised the need to create contracts with suppliers that are flexible enough to weather storms and protect all parties from current and future pressures.“The reality is that you have to find a solution,” she said. “It will come down to how do we share the risk and how do we share burden? Having your partner bleed out is not going to be leading to a happy ending.”The pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine have caused unprecedented turbulence across supply chains and Szaller advocated for all stakeholders to be involved in early stage discussions to avoid the time and cost risk of changing supply chain partners because of inflexible agreements. The CMS Technology Transformation: Managing Risks in a Changing Land­scape re­port found that 56% of corporate counsel and risk managers surveyed were expecting a rise in disputes involving AI over the next few years. The panel session also got valuable insights into the complexities and difficulties of building AI systems in life sciences – the global sector is forecast to grow at 20% CAGR between 2022 and 2030 – from Anita Prinzie, Product Manager, Omnia Technologies Machine Learning.“We try to face the risks head on.” she commented. “We want to tap into the opportunities to build valuable digital health apps that will support much more personalised experiences, which we all actually want.“There is more health data – just like we have in the retail sector - but this data is very personal. It's your personal health data. So, when companies ask us to help personalise those health experiences, it is a yes but we have to look at the risks. We cannot jump for joy and just apply whatever algorithm from the shelf.“It is very difficult and is not only an AI problem but an AI risk management problem.”She added that regulations over privacy and data protection varied across countries so the company created core programmes that can be amended for different nations rather than construct new systems for each country. The panel, which included CMS partners Brian Sher and Tom De Cordier, discussed a range of issues such as licensing agreements in a changing environment, including the freshly-minted sector of collaborations based on early stage innovation and research, ‘killer acquisitions’, competition law, regulatory complexities and IP rights. Nick Beckett, Global Co-Head of CMS Life Sciences & Healthcare Sector Group, observed: “Advances are coming thick and fast in life sciences so we need to make sure the legal sector can respond positively to ensure that new technologies and therapies get to the people that need them most.“Sharing sector intelligence and experience is key to understand where friction points arise and allows us to find solutions that empower the sector.“The entire CMS Forum was full of insights and knowledge and we are committed to utilising best practice and innovative approaches to get the best for our life sciences and healthcare clients.”
13/09/2022
Open secrets? Guarding value in the intangible economy
Some leaks can’t be fixed “Confidential information is like an ice cube... give it to the party who has no refrigerator or will not agree to keep it in one, and by the time of the trial you have just a pool of water.” This, from the so-called Spycatcher case (1987), applies well to corporate assets: fail to store them correctly and all you might have left is an expensive mess. The consequences of even a minor exposure of a trade secret can be huge. As this report reveals, the protection of trade secrets is rightly recognised by most senior executives as a priority issue. But the research also reveals gaps that leave companies unnecessarily exposed to risks. The top named threats – cybersecurity attacks and employee leaks – resonate with what we see impacting our clients. Increased home and remote working is straining security measures and employee loyalty. Added to this, an ‘innovate or die’ attitude in highly-com­pet­it­ive sectors can motivate new joiners to arrive with questionable material from their previous employer, or worse: outright theft between competitors. But while it is easy to focus on the lurking threats from weakened cyber security and disgruntled employees – and they are important – there are more routine actions a company can take to safeguard its secrets than just updating its IT systems or the employee handbook. Commonly, those who most need our help already have a trade secrets policy but have not properly implemented it in relation to the secret in question. Or the policy has not been updated to reflect the intangible assets the business now owns. Or protection was taken for granted. With trade secrets – which for many businesses are strategically more important than a public patent portfolio – it is always costlier and messier to find solutions after a theft or a leak. Identifying the trade secrets and the threats posed to them, combined with rigorous internal processes and well-drafted contracts, can help prevent such problems from happening. Harder, but just as necessary, is engaging hearts and minds in corporate culture, to know why trade secrets are important, why we are all are responsible for protecting them, and what may happen if we do not (to both the company and the individual). In our experience, the businesses with the strongest defences have not only thought strategically about their intangible assets and how best to protect them but are also prepared for the worst. The trick to avoiding an asset becoming a crisis is to be wise before the event.
01/06/2022
CMS Next
What’s next? In a world of ever-ac­cel­er­at­ing change, staying ahead of the curve and knowing what’s next for your business or sector is essential. At CMS, we see ourselves not only as your legal advisers but also as your business partners. We work together with you to not only resolve current issues but to anticipate future challenges and innovate to meet them. With our latest publication, CMS Next, our experts will regularly offer you insights into and fresh perspectives on a range of issues that businesses have to deal with – from ESG agendas to restructuring after the pandemic or facing the digital transformation. We will also share with you more about the work that we are doing for our clients, helping them innovate, grow and mitigate risk. To be able to provide you with the best support, we immerse ourselves in your world to understand your legal needs and challenges. However, it is equally important that you know who we are and how we can work with you. So, we invite you to meet our experts and catch a glimpse of what is happening inside CMS. Enjoy reading this publication, which we will update regularly with new content. CMS Executive Team
01/03/2022
The Mobile Century 2022
CMS is delighted to support The Mobile Century, a publication written by women in the digital space, published by the Global Telecom Women’s Network (GTWN). The GTWN 30th Anniversary Publication is a special edition. The theme “Re­flec­tions” brings together the perspectives of the older generation of women who have lived experience of the evolution of ICT over the past three decades and beyond, with women of the younger generation, while looking ahead to what work remains to be done. This seminal work includes essays by global experts in: Tech evolution from the early days of the internet and the mobile phone to today; Tech ESG and how digital technology can drive sustainability into the future; Tech safety, protecting yourself and others online; Tech equity, bridging the digital divide; and Future tech, with a focus on the impact of artificial intelligence. You can either browse the publication online or fill in your details below to download the full publication.