Etienne Drouard

Etienne assisted a consortium of 9 professional associations representing over 6,700 companies in a litigation against guidelines on targeted advertising issued by the French Data Protection Authority

In offering people choices when accessing a website, a mobile application, or receiving offers, Etienne has contributed since 1994 to defining and interpreting applicable rules in Europe.*

Artificial intelligence (AI) is governed by analyses of legal, societal, and economic risks. Etienne provides insights into the technological realities and responsibilities within the AI value chain.

Biometrics are regulated by requirements of proportionality, consent, and security, on which Etienne advises and litigates in various sectors (health, insurance, media, security, transportation).

Data transfers and laws applicable to digital services raise conflicts of sovereignty and laws, on which Etienne has been involved for 25 years in public affairs, advisory, and litigation.*

Etienne works on pseudonymization and anonymization techniques and the distribution of regulatory, civil, commercial, tort, and criminal responsibilities that result from the sharing of data.

Etienne is regularly involved in M&A transactions dealing with technology companies or digital assets and in foreign investment control procedures, including the analysis of national security issues.

Etienne advises numerous companies on the articulation between employment law, privacy rights and the preservation of professional confidentiality.

Etienne authored a study “Consent or Pay: Is It a Choice?” putting into perspective the respective positions of European Courts and national regulators

Etienne Drouard and his team are involved in individual or mass litigation, civil, administrative, or judicial, before national courts, constitutional courts, and the European Court of Justice.

Since 2008, Etienne has been involved in over 280 cyber crisis and data breaches, assisting clients in crisis management and their legal and communication strategies, as well as subsequent litigation*

Since 1994, Etienne has been involved in the development of over 340 amendments and legislative proposals or regulatory acts adopted in France and the European Union dealing with digital activities.*

Etienne co-authored for the European Commission in 2000 a study “Unsolicited Commercial Communications and Data Protection”, with computer sociologist Serge Gauthronet.*