Ann LaFrance co-chairs the firm’s global Data Privacy & Cybersecurity Practice and is a senior member of the international Communications Practice.
In addition to advising clients on national and cross-border data privacy and cybersecurity matters, Ann has experience counselling clients on a broad range of legal and regulatory issues affecting the provision of internet and digital services, as well as advanced technologies. She has particular expertise advising on issues of concern to technology, media and telecommunications companies and she frequently serves as an adviser to governments and regulatory authorities on legislative and policy matters in these areas. Her practice is global, spanning the US, the EU and emerging markets in the Middle East and the Caribbean.
Until September 2019, Ann was a partner in the firm’s London office, where she advised clients on the full range of compliance issues arising under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the ePrivacy Directive and the Network and Information Security (Cybersecurity) Directive. She has also counseled clients on compliance with the EU telecommunications regulatory framework and, most recently, legislative drafting and implementation issues related to the adoption of the new EU Electronic Communications Code.
Drawing on her extensive GDPR experience, Ann now leads the firm’s US team of data protection practitioners advising on compliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act, as well as other federal and state privacy and cybersecurity laws and regulations. She has particular expertise in assisting clients with the design and implementation of integrated global compliance solutions and regulatory risk mitigation strategies.
Ann brings to the table an in-house perspective on top of her 25 years of experience advising clients as external counsel. From 1996 to 2004, she served as Chief International Counsel of MCI Communications Corp. (now Verizon), based in Brussels and London.
Ann is a member of the board of directors of the International Institute of Communications (IIC) and serves as Vice President. She is a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals and is regularly called upon to speak on data privacy and digital economy issues.
