Team size: Four 

Major legal advisers: Matheson and Arthur Cox 

What are some of the legal challenges that IT companies face in the development and use of emerging technologies in their products?  

Keeping up to date and compliant with regulation is a key focus for in-house counsel. There has been an explosion of new laws. The regulation of Artificial Intelligence, increased data protection and E-Privacy regulations are all on the agenda as the use of emerging technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace. Businesses are processing personal data in ever more sophisticated and complex ways, and it can be a challenge for the in-house counsel to understand the data flows and ensuring that the transparency principle is being adhered to particularly as we are starting to see the regulators handing down large fines. Privacy by design should be the goal and whilst it can be a challenge to get key stakeholder buy in, this creates an opportunity for in house counsel to demonstrate its skill set – to bring people together, to influence, to balance risk and opportunity, and get a seat at the table early on and us it to shape strategic business decisions such as what products are being developed and sold.  

The heightened risk posed by cybercrime means that many companies are looking at their digital security strategy to see where investment is required. Whilst operational and technical steps are required, legal and compliance considerations will also be a feature – assessing the risks of what is being proposed, providing oversight and governance of the project roll out plan and ensuring appropriate contracts are in place with vendors and appropriate due diligence is carried out. Because of the potential seriousness of cyberattacks, in-house counsel need to re-evaluate their priorities and consider whether cybersecurity needs to be moved up on their list of priorities. Key considerations include assessing what information the business holds, what the impact could be if data was lost or stolen in an attack and identifying where the vulnerabilities are and how these can be improved. Whilst this is a new challenge for in house counsel, it is also another opportunity for the legal team to add value and shape business decisions.  

Covid-19 crisis continues to pose unprecedented challenges to all businesses. Working remotely continues to be a feature and can pose legal issues and the challenge for the in-house counsel will be identifying and assessing the risks posed – international data transfers if employees are now working from abroad, employment rights if employees are working from abroad long term as we are now approaching the second year of the pandemic, the management of public health advice against business objectives. Businesses are on notice of risks to power supply this and for future winters and this will bring with it new challenges for in-house counsel, particularly in the telecommunications industry.