Sherif Malak > Shoosmiths LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Sherif is a digital media lawyer that supports businesses to bring their digital and data-driven projects to life. He assists them to manage legal compliance and contract risks in all areas relating to the use and exploitation of digital, data and online technologies and business models. Sherif finds pragmatic, risk-based solutions where those technologies and models push the limits of the law.

Sherif assists clients to navigate complex and developing areas of legal compliance including internet, consumer, data protection and privacy, intellectual property, advertising, marketing, IT and media law and regulation, with a strong focus on internet-enabled technologies including e-commerce, web, mobile, social, APIs, IoT, augmented and virtual reality, blockchain, AI, cloud, crowdfunding, user-generated content, VoD metering, adtech, healthtech, fintech and proptech.

Sherif’s work highlights include:

• advising over 25 retailers and digital platforms on their CRM re-permissioning strategies and digital advertising activities, including remarketing and retargeting activities, from a data protection compliance perspective;
• negotiating data processing and data sharing agreements for a leading marketing research services provider and advising on data matching and modelling, activation and data anonymisation;
• producing standard Adtech templates for a national newspaper and media publisher and advising on cookie, PII matching and data modelling collaborations for an international market research company;
• acting as outsourced data protection manager for a leading data center provider;
• conducting a data protection impact assessment and negotiating terms for the global licensing of connected car data for a leading automotive manufacturer;
• advising a number of innovative early stage businesses in relation to business models and customer terms including online fashion marketplace ‘Vestiaire Collective’, communications platform ‘Releasd’, crowdfunding platforms ‘Crowdfunder’ and ‘IdeasPatch’, on-demand newspaper service ‘Newspaper Club’, online student accommodation booking service ‘Vita Student’, augmented reality registry, ‘Darabase’, proptech platform ‘Propoly’ and construction forum ‘earwig’;
• advising a global automotive manufacturer in relation to its on-demand rental platform;
• producing template contracts and negotiating the same in relation to a series of licences for a leading learned society as part of its digital programme. These included its App, intranet, website, endorsement and sale of translation rights deals;
• drafting the standard terms of supply for cloud-based services provided by a leading mobile workforce software solutions provider and negotiating the same with its key clients;
• advising a global cosmetics and fragrance company in connection with its launch of the UK’s first Facebook chat bot e-store;
• working alongside the business change function and data protection officer of an international retailer in the FTSE 250 during a 12 month secondment, including advising on all aspects of GDPR, ePrivacy and cyber security compliance including data protection governance structures, creation of data taxonomies, processing and system inventories, data subject access rights, marketing preference statements, re-permissioning, privacy notices, digital advertising practices and documentary compliance including production of policies, registers and DPIAs, LIAs and other templated tools;
• advising on a broad range of legal compliance issues in relation to Pottermore, the digital home of the Harry Potter books, including compliance with e-commerce, service provision, consumer rights (including distance selling), accessibility, data protection and advertising and promotion rules and best practice;
• negotiating on behalf of a major consumer brand in relation to an internet advertising and social media competition services contract with a major online music platform, producing social media competition template terms and providing training on risks arising from social media marketing; and
• advising retailers on the legal issues arising from international data sharing, data enrichment, social media customer audiences and targeting, banking rewards, employee monitoring, data protection liability ring-fencing, Brexit planning, Covid-19, breach reporting, use of CCTV footage, biometric access controls, proximity marketing, in-store heatmapping, cookie compliance and trader incentivisation.

Sherif delivers in-house legal briefings and participates in industry panels and speaking events. He is a member of the Society for Computers & Law.