Kirsten Thompson

Practice Areas

Kirsten Thompson is a partner at Dentons, and is the National Practice Group Lead of the firm’s Privacy and Cybersecurity group. She has both an advisory and advocacy practice, and provides privacy, data security and data management advice to clients in a wide variety of industries.

Kirsten’s practice has a particular concentration in data-driven industries and disruptive technologies, and she is a leading practitioner in areas such as Fintech (including blockchain and "smart contracts"), digital identity, Open Data/Open Banking, vehicle telematics and connected infrastructure, Big Data/data analytics applications and enterprise data strategy. She also helps clients prepare for and manage information crises, such as data breaches, investigations and class actions, and has advised financial institutions, insurers, health care providers and providers of critical infrastructure on cybersecurity preparedness and response planning. She has been lead Canadian counsel on some of the largest North American data breaches and has been selected as preferred cybersecurity counsel by a number of Canada’s leading financial institutions and insurance providers.

In her advisory role, Kirsten assists clients in navigating the legal and privacy requirements of new products and technologies, and provides compliance advice both within and across jurisdiction. She counsels clients on issues raised by social media, surveillance, identification and authentication (including biometrics and electronic signatures), vehicle and device telematics (including unmanned vehicles, both aerial and land-based), online behavioural advertising, big data and data analytics, data monetization, and FinTech and open banking. She advises clients on the increasingly significant informational elements of business transactions.

Career

Called to the bar: Ontario, 2000

Professional Memberships

Former Board Member, Women’s College Hospital; Board Member, Canadian Technology Law Association; Canadian Bar Association; The Advocates’ Society; International Association of Privacy Professionals