Gerrit-Jan Zwenne is a respected attorney in the field of privacy and data protection law. He has extensive experience in the field of internet and telecommunications law and the legal issues surrounding blockchain, the cloud, and sensor data. Gerrit-Jan uses his knowledge and expertise to advise trade associations, multinationals, start-ups, regulatory authorities, and many governments on digitisation.
Gerrit-Jan studied Dutch Law at Leiden University, where he also defended his doctoral dissertation "Belastingheffing en Informatieverplichtingen" [Taxation and Disclosure Obligations] in 1998. He is the Professor of Law and Digital technologies at Leiden University. Gerrit-Jan was a partner at Brinkhof and Bird & Bird before he joined Pels Rijcken in 2018. He has drafted a number of preliminary reports on digitisation for, among others, the Dutch Lawyers Association, the Association for Health Law and the Association for Education Law. He chairs the Netherlands Association for IT and Law (NVvIR) and the Association of Privacy Lawyers (VPR-A) and sits on the Board of the Privacy Law Association (VPR). He is also a member of the Constitutionality Advisory Committee of the Netherlands Bar Association, the Advisory Board of the National Archives, and lecturer and examiner in the VIRA-Grotius programme for ICT lawyers. Lastly, he serves as an editor (and author) of Tekst & Commentaar Privacy- en telecommunicatierecht, Concise European Data Protection, E-Commerce and IT Law, the Tijdschrift voor internetrecht, and Sdu Monografieën ICT-recht.
Recommendations
- “We have a great relationship with Gerrit-Jan Zwenne as partner who supports us in many of our complex privacy related matters.”, Legal 500, 2021
- Leading Individual, Legal 500, 2021
- “Gerrit-Jan Zwenne has a leading reputation for data privacy matters, including representing clients in investigations and data breach notifications. He also acts for clients accused of violating personal privacy. One client enthuses that he is smart, practical, hands-on, reliable and visionary.", Chambers Europe 2021
- Leading Individual, Legal 500, 2020
- “Gerrit-Jan Zwenne has a very strong knowledge of privacy law and related regulations and has a great reputation in the field of privacy.”. And “Strong in privacy and data protection and very pragmatic advice. Gerrit-Jan Zwenne has very strong knowledge of privacy law and related regulations and has a great reputation in the field of privacy.”, Legal 500, 2020
- "One client regards Gerrit-Jan Zwenne as a good adviser and negotiator and lauds his depth and breadth of knowledge.", Chambers Europe 2020
- Leading Individual, Legal 500 2019
- "Gerrit-Jan Zwenne is a recent addition to the firm's data protection team. One commentator presents him as an authority on data privacy, going on to explain: He's very knowledgeable and able to give concise and useful advice.", Chambers Europe 2019