Partner Maarten Stassen, a data lawyer with extensive TMT experience in both Europe and the Middle East, leads our Commercial Advisory practice in Belgium.
Maarten’s Commercial Advisory and TMT practice focuses on commercial, regulatory, privacy, data protection and cybersecurity law, including European legislation with extraterritorial impact such as the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the AI Act, the Data Act, NIS2 and DORA.
As an experienced data protection litigator, he represents both national and international clients in proceedings before the Belgian Data Protection Authority and the Market Court.
Clients praise his entrepreneurial spirit and drive to provide client-specific, business-focused, practical and pragmatic advice.
Having practiced law in both Spain and Belgium, and having held leadership positions in international organizations in both Europe and the Middle East, Maarten is well equipped to offer a global perspective, facilitate cross-border dialogue on emerging tech- and data-related challenges, and act as a sounding board for strategic business decisions.
Maarten was named a “Next Generation Partner” by Legal 500 in EU Regulatory: Privacy and Data Protection. A Legal 500 source described him as follows: "Maarten Stassen is one of the brightest and most talented lawyers I have ever met. He is a team player and an excellent lawyer." He was furthermore described as “very experienced in privacy” and a “name to note” in the Belgian IT & Telecoms industry.
Maarten teaches at the Data Protection Institute and is a frequently sought-after speaker.
Past positions in the privacy and data protection field that have proven to be valuable for his clients include vice chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) Privacy and Computer Crime Committee (Science & Technology Law Section), faculty leader of the European Privacy Academy, and co-chair of the Brussels KnowledgeNet of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) and member of its European Advisory Board.
Maarten is fluent in Dutch, English, French, Spanish, and Catalan.
Latest Insights
Maarten represents both national and international clients in litigation before the Belgian Data Protection Authority and its court of appeal, the Market Court, including:
- representing a leading international media company in a case involving NOYB, the association of the renowned privacy activist Max Schrems
- assisting a company active in the international leisure industry in an investigation initiated by the Belgian data protection authority; and
- representing a private employment agency in proceedings regarding the alleged unlawful further processing of personal data after a request for erasure
- Maarten is a trusted advisor when clients are faced with cybersecurity incidents and regularly advises on European cybersecurity legislation such as NIS2 and the Belgian NIS2 implementation
- He advises on a wide range of Belgian regulatory life sciences, including MedTech and clinical trial requirements, and commercial law-related matters, such as requirements for Order-to-Cash documents, sales process requirements, product recall legislation, requirements for B2B and B2C terms and conditions, gambling and lottery legislation, etc.
- Maarten has relevant in-house experience in leading roles. Recently, he was the operational lead of the Data Protection Office of a leading international company active in the travel industry
- “Contracting Tips to Comply with EU Regulations”, workshop lead, IAPP Data Protection Congress, 19 November 2024
- “How will the AI Act affect brands and retailers?”, Sourcing Journal, 14 February 2024
- “Shades of GDPR? Experts assess AI Act as global standard”, Compliance Week, 20 December 2023
- "European data legislation: from GDPR to AI," Unizo G-100 working group, 13 December 2023
- "Exploring the U.S. Market Webinar; Data Privacy: A Comparison of the U.S and EU Landscape”, law firm webinar, 19 September 2023
- "Nuts & Bolts of Investigations: Protecting Privilege", Lexology webinar, 19 May 2022
- “Experts optimistic, though wary, toward Privacy Shield successor”, Compliance Week, 25 March 2022
- "Selected IP/IT Topics in a Digital Environment", law firm webinar, 24 February 2022
- "HR Privacy - Case Law Developments of the Labor Courts and the Belgian DPA (2018-2021)", webinar in collaboration with IBJ/IJE, 26 October 2021
- "Cyber Insights - Lessons Learned from Recent Ransomware Attacks", webinar in collaboration with IBJ/IJE, 21 September 2021
- "Nuts & Bolts of Investigations: Protecting Privilege," Investigations: Readiness and Response Webinar Series, 27 April 2021
- "Global Cross-Border Data Transfers (Part 3)," law firm webinar, 15 April 2021
- "Cybersecurity: Lessons Learned from the Latest Major Hacks," webinar in collaboration with IBJ/IJE, 2 February 2021
- "Global Cross-Border Data Transfers (Part 2)," law firm webinar, 3 December 2020
- “The new normal: navigating working-from-home privacy and cybersecurity risk”, IAPP webinar, 8 May 2020
- “Discussie over zogenaamde corona-apps: méér Big Brother a.u.b.”, VRT, 22 April 2020
- “App offers $1M bounty for proof of alleged hacking smear campaign”, Compliance Week, 31 March 2020
- “Vous travaillez à domicile? Les cybercriminels adorent ça!”, La Dernière Heure and La Libre Belgique, 25 March 2020
- “Advising clients on a single global data protection compliance regime”, IAPP webinar, 3 March 2020
- “Google's Move to Restrict Web-Cookies Signals Need to Re-think Post-Regulatory Internet”, Law.com, 27 January 2020
- “Legal Tech's Predictions for Privacy in 2020”, Law.com, 2 January 2020
- “Data breaches in the GDPR era: risks, challenges and solutions”, IAPP Brussels KnowledgeNet, 2 April 2019
- “Privacy Impact Assessments”, IAPP Summit (Washington DC), 2018
- Workshop “Privacy Impact Assessment & Privacy by Design”, CPDP Congress, 2017
- Advisory panel member, “GDPR: identifying key challenges from a practitioners perspective”, LSEC Leaders in Security, 19 December 2016
- “Customer data: their rights, your obligations”, European Customer Experience Conference, global leading automotive company, 23 November 2016 (Athens, Greece)
- Workshop “Building a Global Privacy Program”, IAPP Europe Data Protection Congress, 2016
- “GDPR, main changes & challenges”, VOKA, 20 October 2016
- “EU General Data Protection Regulation, the impact on Japanese companies and the reaction to be taken”, seminar Japanese Desk, 9 June 2016
- “Corporate Compliance, Privacy update, Euronext, 26 April 2016
- Workshop “Privacy Impact Assessments: The Full Picture”, IAPP Europe Data Protection Intensive 2015 (London)
- “Staying ahead of the wave: from cyber security to cyber resilience”, CPDP Congress, 2015
- “Privacy in Practice, Privacy Impact Assessments & Multidimensional Data Mapping”, ETNO, Data Protection, Trust & Security Working Group, 24 April 2015
- “Privacy for start-ups”, Deloitte Innovation Centre Academy, 27 April 2015
- Workshop “Building a global privacy program”, IAPP Europe Data Protection Congress, 2014
- Workshop “How to build a global privacy program”, IAPP Europe Data Protection Intensive, 2014 (London)
- Workshop “Building a global privacy program”, IAPP Europe Data Protection Congress, 2013
- Workshop “How to build a global privacy program”, IAPP Europe Data Protection Intensive, 2013 (London)
- “Internal staff awareness as a key link in the secure data chain”, E.N.G.´s 7th Senior Executive Summit “Strategic Data Protection & Compliance”, 3 October 2012 (Amsterdam)
- “Cross-border mergers: a practical introduction”, Bars Brussels and Barcelona (Barcelona), 2011
- “El nuevo reglamento de protección de datos: un año de experiencia”, law firm seminar (Barcelona), 2011
- “La aplicación del nuevo reglamento de la LOPD”: Chamber of Commerce of Belgium and Luxembourg in Barcelona, 2009
Publications
- “Kan Artificiële Intelligentie intelligent verzekerd worden?”, T.Verz. 2024, ed. 2, 124-132
- “Belgium – Data Protection Overview”, OneTrust DatGuidance, 11 September 2024
- “Europe: Data protection considerations for the use of dashcams in the EU / Belgium”, OneTrust DataGuidance, 30 August 2024
- “2024: An Overview of New and Upcoming Belgian and EU Laws and Regulations” (contributor), 31 January 2024
- “Regulating the Buzzword – What the AI Act Means for Your Business”, law firm client alert, 12 December 2023
- “The European Data Protection Supervisor Releases New Opinion on the EU's Proposed AI Act”, IBJ/IJE Partnerblog, 27 November 2023
- “European Parliament Adopts Final EU Data Act”, law firm client alert, 17 November 2023
- “European Data Protection Supervisor Releases New Opinion on the EU’s Proposed AI Act”, law firm client alert, 13 November 2023
- “EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework: The New Solution for EU Data Transfers to the U.S.”, law firm client alert, 11 July 2023
- “5 jaar GDPR in de eventsector: van "big data" naar "smart data" in 5 lessen”, Event Confederation, 5 July 2023
- “MOVEit Vulnerability: What to Know and What to Do”, law firm client alert, 7 June 2023
- “CJEU Clarifies the Right to Obtain a ‘Copy’ of Personal Data”, law firm client alert, 8 May 2023
- “The EDPB’s opinion on EU-U.S. DPF”, Data Law, 7 March 2023
- “President Biden Signs Executive Order Implementing EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework to Facilitate Cross-Border Data Transfers - Privacy Shield 2.0?”, law firm client alert, 10 October 2022
- “World's First Reinsurance Contract Bound Using Blockchain Technology”, law firm client alert, 8 April 2022
- “Regaining Momentum: Enabling Financial Services to Catalyze Inclusive, Innovative and Sustainable Recovery”, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Advisory Council, 1 August 2021
- “GDPR voor HR in lokale besturen. Gegevensbescherming helder uitgeklaard en toegepast”, Vanden Broele, 1 July 2021
- “Autonomous vehicles: Driving regulatory and liability challenges”, Automotive World, 4 April 2020
- “Europe organisations working from home during coronavirus must ensure appropriate security measures”, OneTrust DataGuidance, 2 April 2020
- “Six essential tips to start this second week of teleworking”, Data News, 22 March 2020
- “Disruptive Innovation in Business and Finance in the Digital World, International Finance Review, Volume 20, Chapter 7”, 3 February 2020
- “Why consent is the weakest link”, law firm client alert, 10 October 2019
- “Court of Justice of the European Union finds that pre-ticked checkboxes are not valid consents under GDPR, law firm client alert, 9 October 2019
- “Belgian data protection authority finds merchant violated GDPR by requiring customers to provide electronic ID to receive loyalty card, law firm publication, 8 October 2019
- “What we can learn about joint controllership from the CJEU Fashion ID ruling”, law firm publication, 21 August 2019
- “The EU Cybersecurity Act: addressing the risks of a connected Europe”, law firm publication, 2 August 2019
- “How New EU Cyber Sanctions Compare To US Policy”, Law360, 30 July 2019
- “One year later: GDPR’S impact on the retail sector”, law firm publication, 30 May 2019
- “ICPHSO International Symposium Panel on GDPR and the EU’s Digital Single Market”, law firm publication, 13 December 2018
- “Outcome of Privacy Shield review uncertain, despite U.S. steps toward compliance, law firm publication, 18 October 2018
- “U.K. announces fines up to $24M for cyber noncompliance, law firm publication, 31 January 2018
- Editorial “IAPP Europe Data Protection Digest”, 6 March 2015
- “La LOPD y la diligencia del empresario”, Expansión, 1 July 2008
- named a “Next Generation Partner” by Legal 500 in “EU Regulatory: Privacy and Data Protection”
- Teacher Data Protection Institute
- Member Beltug Privacy Council
- Member Beltug Blockchain Taskforce (2019 – 2022)
- Member European Advisory Board IAPP (2013 – 2015)
- Co-Chair Brussels KnowledgeNet IAPP (2018 – 2020)
- Vice-Chair Privacy & Computer Crime, American Bar Association (2017 – 2022)
- Faculty Leader European Privacy Academy (2014 – 2017)
- IAPP certified AI Governance Professional (AIGP), 2024
- IAPP certified Information Privacy Professional/Europe (CIPP/E), 2014
- IAPP certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM), 2013
- Lawyer (“Advocaat”) qualification, Brussels Bar (Belgium), 2009
- Lawyer (“Abogado”) qualification, Barcelona Bar (Spain), 2007
- J.D. (“Licenciado en derecho”), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona (Spain), 2006
- J.D. (“Licentiaat in de rechten”), cum laude, KU Leuven (Belgium), 2004