GDPR and European Data Regulation

In today’s digital economy, data is more than just a resource — it is a strategic asset at the heart of every business. As privacy laws across Europe evolve at a rapid pace, Skadden's Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Practice combines deep cross-border experience, regulatory insight, technological fluency and a holistic, business-oriented approach to provide clients with practical strategic advice to foster innovation, navigate regulatory response requirements, assist with related regulatory response investigations and maintain resilience.

Comprehensive Cross-Border Service

Skadden’s nuanced understanding of European regulatory expectations and deep relationships with regulators uniquely positions us to help clients navigate the far-reaching obligations imposed by European data protection laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and resolve complex issues efficiently. Our familiarity with enforcement trends in Belgium, France, Germany, U.K., Ireland and beyond ensures that clients receive coordinated, up-to-date guidance across jurisdictions.

Proactive Adaptation to Regulatory Change and Complexity

New data laws — including the Data Act, European Health Data Space, Financial Data Access Regulation and AI Act — are shifting the focus of data regulation beyond personal data protection. Simultaneously, regulators’ and courts’ priorities and interpretations of existing data protection laws continue to evolve. Skadden is at the forefront of helping clients adapt. We balance regulatory requirements with commercial realities, informed by our thorough understanding of legislative and enforcement developments and deep understanding of business.

Innovative Compliance Solutions

Skadden integrates targeted, proportionate compliance with innovation strategies, ensuring that compliance is not a barrier but a facilitator of growth. By embedding compliance into the early stages of product development and business strategy, we help clients leverage compliance as a competitive advantage.

Why Skadden

• Holistic, tech-savvy guidance: Our practice brings together legal, technical and business experience to deliver comprehensive, pragmatic solutions that minimize operational burdens while maximizing both legal protection and business value.
• Deep cross-border experience: We bring unmatched experience navigating the intricate landscape of EU and U.K. data protection and privacy laws, along with relevant U.S. and other non-European laws, providing coordinated, cross-jurisdictional guidance to multinational clients.
• Strong regulator relationships: We have well-established relationships with many European data protection authorities — including the CNIL (France), BfDI and LDA Bavaria (Germany), DPC (Ireland) and ICO (U.K.) — as well as financial and other regulators such as BaFin (Germany), the Commission (EU) and the FCA (U.K.), allowing us to anticipate regulatory expectations and advocate effectively on behalf of clients.

Relevant Experience

• Regulatory compliance assessments: Skadden leverages its extensive experience to assess the application of EU and U.K. data protection laws to clients’ operations, providing actionable recommendations to achieve and maintain compliance.
• Policy and program development: Skadden has considerable experience designing, drafting and updating comprehensive internal data protection policies, procedures and training programs.
• Cross-border data transfer advice: We counsel clients on structuring and documenting international data transfers to comply with EU and U.K. data protection laws.
• Incident response and breach management: Our global team guides clients through all stages of data breach response, from containment and investigation to fulfilling notification requirements and mitigating legal and reputational risks.
• Regulator engagement and investigations: We regularly represent clients in engagements with European and U.K. data protection authorities and other global regulators, assisting at every step, from responding to inquiries to navigating investigations and securing favorable resolutions.

GDPR and European Data Regulation Publications