Francesca Rubina Gaudino
Biography
Francesca Gaudino is the Head of the Data Privacy and Data Security practice in Italy and a senior partner in Baker McKenzie’s Information Technology & Communications Group, reflecting her prominent role in shaping regional strategy on technology, data and regulatory innovation.
Recognized by Chambers Euroas a leading practitioner in TMT and Data Protection, Francesca has built a reputation for guiding multinational clients through complex and fast evolving privacy, cybersecurity and data governance frameworks. Her work spans high impact projects involving behavioural profiling, cloud and outsourcing ecosystems, large scale data transfers, HR digitalization and advanced tech deployments. She is also a reference advisor on emerging EU digital regulation, supporting companies on AI governance, the Data Act, the Data Governance Act and platform driven models.
Francesca contributes actively to the broader privacy community. She publishes regularly in leading international reviews —including Wired Italy, World Data Protection Review, IAPP publications and Privacy Laws & Business— and is a frequent speaker at major conferences and workshops.
Her thought leadership is complemented by longstanding academic engagement, delivering lectures on privacy and security at SDA Bocconi and Alma Mater Bologna.
Practice Focus
Francesca focuses her practice on the full spectrum of data protection, cybersecurity and digital regulatory compliance, advising multinational clients on operational, strategic and governance level matters. She routinely designs and coordinates global privacy compliance programs, manages multijurisdictional data governance frameworks, and supports clients through interactions with supervisory authorities —including filings, authorizations, investigations and high risk processing assessments.
Her advisory work covers advanced technological ecosystems, such as AI enabled platforms, cloud infrastructures, behavioural advertising, digital HR tools, social network environments, mobile applications and multi territorial digital services. Francesca regularly advises on complex cross border transfers and on the structuring of compliant data sharing models, including those driven by new EU rules such as the Data Act and the Data Governance Act.
She has extensive experience guiding clients through critical scenarios —from cybersecurity events to regulatory scrutiny— and provides strategic counsel on privacy risk management, security frameworks and IT outsourcing structures. Francesca also leads multidisciplinary teams on privacy matters linked to clinical trials, telemedicine, whistleblowing systems, internal investigations and data retention models.
Representative Legal Matters
- Acting as lead coordinator in a series of multijurisdictional privacy and security focused projects, in relation to the design, implementation and management of complete privacy compliance of multinational companies groups.
- Advising on the implementation of CRM/CEM projects.
- Advising on corporate and website policies and procedures.
- Advising on whistle blowing schemes, monitoring and performance assessment systems and management of internal investigations.
- Advising on the management and retention of company data and information.
- Advising on the performance of clinical trials and telemedicine.
- Advising on online multifunctional platforms, cloud computing, adoption of forward thinking marketing strategies in web 3.0 environment, mobile applications and ecommerce.
- Involved in different applied research projects funded by the European Commission within the 6th and 7th Research Framework Programmes for the definition of advanced technical solutions for interactive and mobile based technologies (Privacy by Design).
Professional Honors
- Band 2, TMT: Information Technology, Chambers and Partners Europe (2026)
- Spotlight Individual, TMT: Data Protection, Chambers and Partners Europe (2026)
- Next Generation Partner of the Year, Data Protection, Legal 500 Italy Awards (2026)
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Milan Bar Association
- AIPPI – International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property
- Associazione Italiana Privacy (AIP)
- Federazione Italiana Privacy (FIP)
- Data Privacy Management International (DPM)
Admissions
- Italy (2003)
Education
- University College, London (Master of Laws LL.M.) (2000)
- LUISS (Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali) Guido Carli University in Rome (Master Business Law and Economics) (1999)
- University of Parma (J.D., with honors) (1998)
Languages
- English
- French
- Italian