2019.4 Magazine

The last GDR magazine of 2019 is a bumper issue. It starts on a sad note, with a profile of European Data Protection Supervisor Giovanni Buttarelli, who sadly passed away in August. The article acts not only as an overview of Buttarelli’s tenure at the EDPS – where he turned it into one of the world’s leading voices on data protection and privacy issues – but also examines the agency’s changing role over the years.

All eyes have been on Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, which oversees some of the world’s largest and most sophisticated players in the world of data. We examine how the watchdog has fared so far under the GDPR, bring an interview with its leader Helen Dixon, and feature the lawyers in Dublin who now handle some of the world’s most sensitive work in data.

Outside Europe, Latin America is shaping up to become one of the most complex data regulatory hotspots – with a slew of differing regimes, enforcers of varying maturity and a business culture that has often ignored the risks of handling data. We spoke to leading corporate counsel and practitioners from the region and beyond to discuss what’s keeping companies there awake at night as they gather, exploit and trade data.

GDR also profiled some of the world’s leading firms of experts in cybersecurity, who work closely with lawyers and other corporate advisers to keep data safe and secure.

Data holders around the world are constantly trying to find new ways to enforce their rights. To close out this issue, Morgan Lewis & Bockius lawyers analyse how Japan has amended its IP laws to allow AI businesses to better protect their data.