Dr Sam De Silva

Partner, CMS

Sam is a partner at the leading international law firm, CMS and advises on data protection, privacy and cyber security. He also specialises in the negotiation and drafting of complex commercial agreements including strategic IT and telecommunication contracts.

At an international level, Sam is both the UK representative on the EU Commission’s Expert Group on Cloud Computing Contracts and on the IT Law Committee of the Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE). Sam is on the International Advisory Board of Cyber Rescue Alliance, which is a business assistance alliance helping its members reduce the harm caused by cyber-attacks and is a former Global Board of Trustee for the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS).

At the national level, he is the past Chair on the Law Society’s Technology and Law Committee (but still a member of that Reference Group) and a committee member of the EU Committee of the Law Society. Sam is on the Board of the IT Faculty of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales. Sam has recently been elected as a Trustee to the British Computer Society (BCS) and is also on the Advisory Council of the BCS. Sam is the Co-convenor (with the Chinese) on a ISO Working Group tasked with developing a new ISO Standard on the management of contract and legal risk and is the Chair of the Legal Special Interest Group at the Institute of Risk Management.

Sam’s considerable experience with the above-mentioned committees and groups provides deep market intelligence which supports clients in their strategic planning and future proofing of projects. Sam has written and spoken extensively on technology, outsourcing and data privacy and is regularly called upon by the industry as a thought leader in these areas. He has been interviewed in the press, radio, webinars and on television.

Sam is also one of very few UK solicitors who is a Fellow of CIPS (FCIPS), Fellow of the British Computer Society (FBCS) and a Chartered IT Professional (CITP). Sam has post-graduate degrees in information technology and business administration so is well aware of the commercial, business and technical issues facing both users and suppliers of technology. Sam has in-house industry legal experience having been seconded to Accenture UK as a Senior Legal Counsel. He is recognised as a leading individual in the most recent edition of the Legal 500 and as a Star Individual in Chambers & Partners directories. Sam is named in Who’s Who of Data Privacy and Protection 2019, the Who’s Who of Data Security 2019 and the Who’s Who of Information Technology 2019 as one of the world’s leading lawyers in those areas of law. In addition Sam has been listed in Who’s Who Legal: Thought Leaders – Global Elite 2019. As well as being a qualified English law solicitor, Dr De Silva is also a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand and a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Australia.

Session Details

Beyond Brexit: What next for Data Protection and Privacy in the UK?
16.00pm - 17.00pm

If the UK has managed to leave the EU on 31st October, it is widely believed that not much will change in the short-term, with regard to existing data protection and privacy legislation – but nobody quite knows what might happen in the medium to longer-term. For example…

Will the EU have any power to enforce GDPR and the new ePrivacy regulations in the UK? Will the UK start to harmonise its approach with other economic partners such as the US? Or will the ICO start to navigate a completely new course?

Leading data protection lawyers Dr Sam De Silva and Caroline Cooper from CMS discusses some of the key challenges ahead, including any short-term disruption likely to result from an orderly or disorderly Brexit.