K&L Gates LLP occupies a unique place in the market with its focus on media and entertainment clients and its impressive track record in handling matters for French professional associations, including those representing communication agencies, advertising players and online publishers. Practice heads E. Drouard and Claude-Etienne Armingaud are well versed in cross-border matters as demonstrated by their frequent involvement in matters involving multinational companies, particularly clients from the US and Asia. Instructions relating to GDPR compliance also account for a significant portion of the workload. The practice also offers clients the use of artificial intelligence tools to facilitate document analyses, knowledge management and document drafting. While the tools are employed across the board, they are particularly beneficial in litigation through the improved management of document evidence.

Testimonials

The data protection team can be noted for its outstanding quality, reputation and high responsiveness. With their international network, in-depth knowledge of the market, the technology and their legal strength it is an excellent firm to go to for data protection matters.

Really pleasant team to work with. Responsive and team players.

The K&L Gates privacy team in France has a lot of knowledge regarding cross-border privacy issues.

Claude-Etienne Armingaud is a true data protection thought leader. With his in-depth knowledge of the market, technology and his legal strength he is the person to go to for all data protection matters. He is an expert in the fields of new technological areas including fintech, blockchain and the internet of things where he combines his extensive data protection knowledge with his market and technological experience.

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As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread around the world and cause unprecedented health and economic challenges, technological measures, once thought extreme, are now being deployed for the purposes of contact tracing, infection tracking, and quarantine compliance. While the search for the right tracking app and software development kits continues, the European Union (EU) is still far from finding a consensus on harmonized model and functionalities. Nevertheless, it is already clear that while app design may be the end result, a complex process of regulatory compliance, risk management and ethics checks, and balances lie ahead.

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Approaching its second anniversary this month, the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has never been as relevant as in these unprecedented COVID-19 times. While several countries are considering the implementation of contact tracing apps, a consensus has seemed to surface on subjecting their use to a voluntary basis. The notion of “consent” remains therefore the cornerstone (albeit not the only one) of the European data protection framework.

In that regard, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) issued a revised take on one of the first guidelines published by its predecessor, the WP29, in April 2018 (available here, which itself built upon the WP29 pre-GDPR interpretation of consent under Opinion 15/2011, dated 13 July 2011), taking into consideration the difficulties encountered by the stakeholders in the operational implementation of GDPR compliance. These clarifications come at a time where discrepancies in interpreting what constitutes valid “consent” emerge between various Member States’ Supervisory Authorities, especially as applicable to the use of cookies and other tracking technologies (together, “cookies”).

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K&L Gates ranked “Highly Recommended – Band 1” with Claude-Etienne Armingaud.

Source: Leaders League

With COVID-19 officially declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, European governments and companies, facing unprecedented challenges, are encouraging their employees to work from home, protect their health and support government measures. Through these difficult times, it remains extremely important for European companies to take swift action, follow up on their projects on a daily basis and to ensure that data security and privacy protection measures are in place and are strictly monitored by professionals at all times. Privacy and data protection violations during COVID-19 times cannot be justified and may be investigated by the data protection authorities, whether it be during or after the crisis.

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Les 12 et 13 février 2020, l’IAPP organise sa conférence “Data Protection Intensive: France” — retrouvez nous lors du panel “Global Developments: CCPA and Beyond” avec Delphine Charlot de Mastercard et les meilleurs moments ci-dessous:

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The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) stands to radically change the way organisations throughout the United States, and even the world, handle personal data. Coming into force on 1 January 2020, CCPA has motivated other U.S. states such as Washington and Texas to move toward having their own privacy laws. Increasingly, pressure is building in Washington, DC, to advance federal privacy legislation, both on the domestic and international scene. In addition to Japan obtaining a GDPR-adequacy recognition (followed soon by Korea and India), Brazil has adopted its General Data Protection Act (GDPA) which is heavily inspired by the EU GDPR and will come into force in August 2020. In this session, hear about the new laws and legislative initiatives, how they will change the way you do business internationally and how to get prepared.

Along with Delphine Charlot, CIPP/E, Senior Counsel, Privacy and Data Protection, Mastercard

On March 29, 2018, French President Emmanuel Macron announced his plan to turn France into a global leader in AI. This political leadership was subsequently translated into the Villani report on AI, highlighting autonomous vehicles (AVs) as a regulatory case study, and the Idrac report on AVs. Following these reports, the regulatory framework is currently being amended. This presentation will outline the key changes and how they will affect AV developments in France and in the EU.

More information on the Future of Transportation World Conference 2019 website.

EU: IAPP Europe Data Protection Congress 2019 and Paris Pre-congress KnowledgeNet Meeting

November will see several opportunities to discuss privacy matters in Europe and meet with The Privacist contributors within the K&L Gates’ platform, in connection with the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).

On 18 November 2019, K&L Gates Paris will be hosting an IAPP KnowledgeNet focusing on compliance audit procedures. Speakers will include a representative from the Conformity Department of the French Supervisory Authority (Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés or CNIL), Elisabeth Fraikin (Group DPO, Ariane Group), Matthieu Camus (Privacy Impact), Damien Chaminade (Internal Audit Director), and Lucile Rolinet (Associate, K&L Gates). You can register for the free event here.

Between 18 and 21 November, the IAPP Europe Data Protection Congress 2019 will take place in Brussels. K&L Gates Brussels’ Natali Addison, as well as K&L Gates Paris Claude-Étienne Armingaud and E. Drouard will be delighted to meet with you if you are planning to attend!

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Brexit: Deal Or No-Deal? Data is the Question
With the Brexit deadline looming ahead on 31 October 2019, the situation seemingly reaches new levels of uncertainty every day. Last week, the U.K. Supreme Court’s eleven judges unanimously ruled that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision on 9 September 2019, to prorogue Parliament was “unlawful and void.” Parliament will therefore carry on its Brexit discussions…with now only thirty days left to finalise a deal. Although Parliament, while still in session, passed a law to extend the Brexit deadline, such an extension would still require approval by the EU.

So how should companies prepare, on either side of the Channel (and beyond), in the coming months for the more-likely-by-the-day-scenario of No-Deal?

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