Lauren N. Watson

As a member of the firm’s Cybersecurity and Privacy Practice Group, Lauren dedicates her practice to assisting clients with some of their most challenging compliance issues, including questions relating to electronic employee monitoring and biometric privacy laws, the adoption of artificial intelligence technologies in the workplace, and the development and implementation of global information security and data privacy programs. She helps clients with both internal and external privacy compliance tasks, including the preparation of privacy policies and notices, operationalization of data subject rights, and negotiation of data protection agreements.

She works diligently to support her clients’ alignment to all aspects of privacy and cybersecurity laws and regulations, including state and federal sectoral privacy laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) Cybersecurity Regulation, and the Washington My Health My Data Act (MHMDA), as well as state comprehensive privacy laws including the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CCPA/CPRA), Colorado Privacy Act (CPA), Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA), Connecticut Data Privacy Act (CTDPA), and Utah Consumer Privacy Act (UCPA) and foreign privacy legislation, like the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

In the incident response space, Lauren acts as a trusted advisor to companies experiencing data security incidents, assisting them with immediate data breach response activities as well as longer-term breach notification and regulatory investigation tasks.

Lauren has been designated a Certified Information Privacy Professional for the United States by the International Association of Privacy Professionals. She regularly speaks at conferences and to industry groups about the ever-changing cybersecurity and data privacy landscape. In her spare time, Lauren is a member of the Board of Directors of the Me Fine Foundation, a local non-profit organization that aims to provide hope through emotional support and financial assistance to families whose children are receiving care at North Carolina partner hospitals. Lauren is also a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals Raleigh/Durham KnowledgeNet Chapter and was selected to serve a Chapter Chair for the 2025-2027 term.

She received both her J.D. and B.A. in Political Science and History, with distinction, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During law school, Lauren served as a Senior Staff Editor with the North Carolina Journal of International Law and earned American Jurisprudence Awards in both Cybersecurity Law and International Law Foundations.

Lauren is admitted to practice in North Carolina, Washington, D.C., and Oklahoma.