Singapore’s Rajah & Tann has hired global data protection expert Clarisse Girot as adviser to its technology, media and telecoms (TMT) team following strong growth in the firm’s data privacy practice in Southeast Asia.
The appointment forms part of an agreement for Rajah & Tann to host the first Asia-Pacific office of the US-based Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) in Singapore, of which Girot is the new director.
Rajesh Sreenivasan, the firm’s head of TMT, said that data privacy, data protection, data analytics and cybersecurity mandates had become a key legal risk factor in the digital economy, as a surge in data breaches in Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries had fuelled concern among consumers, regulators and businesses.
“Laws on data privacy are fast catching up with the breakneck speed at which regional economies are digitalising,” said Sreenivasan. “The time has come to build consensus around ethical norms and best practices before the next big breach shatters confidence in new technologies and business models involving data.”
Girot was a senior fellow of the Asian Business Law Institute’s (ABLI) data privacy project in Singapore, where her key focus was on the convergence of data protection laws, and cross-border data transfer regulations, in Asia.
The FPF is a non-profit organisation that serves as a catalyst for privacy leadership and scholarship, advancing principled data practices in support of emerging technologies. Its supporters include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, National Science Foundation, and Digital Trust Foundation.
