Christina Gagnier

Christina Gagnier is an experienced technology lawyer whose practice focuses on cybersecurity and privacy, blockchain technology, international regulatory affairs, technology transactions, and intellectual property. 

Christina serves as outside "in-house" privacy counsel for companies in a variety of sectors including consumer goods, cosmetics, regulated industries, and technology.

Her practice includes counseling clients on compliance with U.S. state privacy laws including the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and other state-law privacy regulations in Colorado, Connecticut, Utah and Virginia, as well as federal privacy laws such as the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and HIPAA.

Christina also counsel clients working internationally on regulations including the European Union’s GDPR, Brazil’s LGPD, Canada’s PIPEDA, and other international privacy laws.

Christina is a nationally recognized thought leader on laws governing online harassment, including nonconsensual pornography and cyberbullying. She has served on notable committees studying technological issues, including the Federal Communication Commission’s Consumer Advisory Committee.

Christina advises clients on digital strategy to help them navigate uncharted legal territory. She guides a variety of technology companies and consumer brands through emerging legal and policy issues such as AdTech, artificial intelligence, biometrics, Internet of Things, and the ever-changing area of consumer privacy law. Her work includes crafting company compliance strategies and training to support compliance. She is also experiencing in assisting clients with privacy and technical due diligence in M&A transactions.

As part of her compliance practice, Christina advises brands and influencers on regulatory compliance with Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices) and other compliance obligations.

Additionally, Christina handles matters involving consumer protection law compliance and data breach investigation and management.

Prior to becoming a lawyer, Christina worked in crisis communications, a background that informs her approach to assisting clients with their responses to data breaches and other events.

Christina served as a member of the California Attorney General’s Cyber Exploitation Task Force. In addition, she was designated as a subject matter expert on cyber exploitation for California's Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training.

Outside her practice, Christina is an adjunct professor at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, where she serves as clinical faculty for the Intellectual Property, Arts, and Technology Clinic and has taught privacy law.

Christina is a certified California mediator experienced in alternative dispute resolution, and she is accredited by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to assist veterans with claims.

Christina is a frequent speaker and author on issues involving the Internet and technology law. She is frequently invited to join panels discussing issues such as artificial intelligence, information privacy and data, blockchain and cryptocurrency, law in the digital age, and international data regulation. 

She has authored articles in HuffPost’s technology section and columns on legal ethics on the web and internet law topics for California Lawyer, and she served as the host for “Techwire” on the California Channel. 

She has appeared on NBC’s “Press: Here” and CBS’ “The Doctors” and on radio stations including KCBS, and she has been quoted by AlterNet, Ars Technica, The Atlantic, The Boston Globe, Buzzfeed, Inc., MIT Technology Review, MSNBC, NBC News, The New York Times, Politico, The Recorder, The Mercury News, Teen Vogue, TechCrunch, The Washington Post, USA Today, and The Verge. She is featured in the documentary about the startup world “Ctrl+Alt+Compete” and enjoyed briefly flashing across the screen in b-roll in the BBC’s Steve Jobs documentary. Recently, Christina appeared on Bloomberg Technology to discuss the issues involved in Elon Musk’s OpenAI lawsuit.

Passionate about technology and education, Christina has served on the Board of the LINK Americas Foundation, which aims to improve digital literacy across the United States, Canada, and Central and South America, and currently serves as the CEO of Our Schools USA, a national non-profit organization dedicated to empowering parents, students, and community members to protect quality public education for all students.

In her local community, Christina serves as the Incoming Chair of the board of directors of the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce. From 2018-2022, she served as a Board Member, as well as the President and Vice President, of the governing board for the Chino Valley Unified School District and was one of the first candidates for public office in the United States to accept bitcoin.

Christina is licensed to practice in California, District of Columbia, and New York.

Experience

• Represented and built privacy compliance programs in the cosmetic and consumer goods space for companies across the United States to comply with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
• Represented large software-as-a-service company in enforcement action for violations of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act.
• Represented geolocation firm in regulatory query involving the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act(COPPA).
• Defended victims of online harassment, obtaining critical legal protections and removing harmful content from the internet.
• Represented medical providers, dental practices, and business associates in HIPAA data breach investigations.
• Represented indie video game company in acquisition of gaming technology from premier online game development studio.
• Conducted privacy and technical due diligence for M&A transactions for Fortune 500 companies.
• Managed data breach crisis communications and stakeholder queries related to large-scale national and international data breaches.
• Conducted internal investigations for companies related to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).
• Represented mobile application development company in management of its vendor contracts and obligations related to data controlling and processing.