kneuman@slrno.com
202.454.9401 (o)
301.332.3546 (m)
Business
Card
Karen is an internationally recognized expert
in privacy and data security law, and a founding partner of Neuman
& Olson (SLRNO), LLP Washington, D.C.-based media technology
and communications law firm. With well over two decades of experience
in diverse markets of the communications industry, including digital
media, telecommunications and cable, Karen combines strong legal
skills with a broad strategic vision to provide value added
legal and strategic counsel to senior management and general counsel
of both new entrants and established entities.
Karen's practice concentrates on privacy and
data security law compliance, risk assessment/
mitigation and strategic counseling, and assisting organizations
to integrate their legal, business
and technology strategies. Karen also performs transactional regulatory
due diligence to ensure
compliance with legal and industry best practices.
Karen is a frequent speaker on current and
developing issues involving privacy and data
security law. She is the founder and editor of, and a regular
contributor to, the SLRNO
Privacy &
Information Law Update. She serves on the Legal and Government
Affairs committee of a major
retail industry trade association and on the Infrastructure Advisory
Committee of a Silicon
Valley-based incubators project involving open source technology
for digital educational and
employment credentials and certifications.
Early in her career Karen worked for the trade
group that represents state public service
commissions. During this period she was appointed to the post-AT&T
divestiture FCC Federal-State Joint Board where she provided legal
guidance and worked closely with senior federal and state regulators
to develop a framework for moving from a highly regulated environment
to one that would promote competition and innovation. Working
in an exceptionally polarized and contentious climate,
Karen played a critical role in developing a consensus among regulatory
stakeholders that would
establish the jurisdictional framework for allocating network
reconfiguration and allocation costs among
local and long distance telecommunications service providers in
order to implement the framework
contemplated by the divestiture decree.
Karen subsequently joined a nationally recognized
cable telecommunications law firm, where she
represented local franchise authorities in all aspects of the
cable franchise process, including awards,
renewals and transfers, related litigation. She negotiated and
drafted cable ordinances and franchise
agreements and evaluated the financial viability of new entrants,
including their proposed funding
sources as well as their capital and operational budgets. Karen
also led the legal team that successfully
defended a complex challenge to the authority of a multi-jurisdictional
joint franchise authority, and
she was part of the team in separate litigation that helped clarify
the First Amendment rights of cable
telecommunications operators.
Karen later joined a public policy firm, where
she focused on cutting edge issues in election law, telecommunications
policy and privacy/technology issues. Her work on telecom policy
included telecommunications reform legislation, formulating policy
and communication strategies concerning privacy and competition
issues for a Silicon Valley-based technology company. She also
helped launch, and served as the legal director of, a national
election law project where she spearheaded various litigation
and state election law initiatives.
In late 2009, she was recruited to and co-found
St. Ledger-Roty Neuman & Olson. Having developed
deep expertise in the expanding body of law governing privacy
and data security, Karen has made that
strength the focus of her practice. Representative matters have
included:
- Providing COPPA compliance guidance to a European-based
website operator;
- Providing compliance guidance to nonprofit and private
entities about state privacy and data breach laws in connection
with online databases and recommending appropriate improvements
to privacy policies and data security programs;
- Supervising the creation of several practical guides for an
industry trade group, including guides to mobile app
and social media advertising, that contain useful compliance
strategies;
- Managing the creation of complex e-commerce transaction
contracts for and industry trade group addressing call center,
distribution and order fulfillment, as well as customer data
management and security terms to ensure compliance with federal
data and consumer protection laws;
- Convening a consumer advisory board for a Silicon Valley-based
technology company to address
privacy and other policy issues arising from new service offerings
including digital products;
- Serving as Co-counsel in multi-party federal court
challenge to a states legal scheme for adding and
removing registrants from its voter registration database on
the basis of matching protocol;
- Leading a team of lawyers in complex state and federal
court proceedings brought against a joint cable telecommunications
franchise authority involving constitutional, statutory, contract
and state law claims and addressing the rights of video services
providers to obtain competitive cable franchises -- resulting
in a successful resolution for the client;
- Structuring, negotiating and drafting cable franchise ordinances
and agreements and assisting local governments to monitor
and enforce compliance;
- Defending against a wholesale challenge to a municipal franchise
scheme in a case that helped clarify the first amendment
rights of cable operators; and
- Advising a telecommunications service provider about
the regulatory consequences of classifying new service offerings
and how to minimize the costs of regulatory compliance for other
initiatives.
Recent Speaking Engagements
& Publications:
- Breakout Session Leader: Privacy: How to acquire customers,
make money and not get sued, Open Mobile Summit (AppCelerate
Program), November 4, 2011, San Francisco, California.
- Consumer Privacy Is There an App for That? Federal
Communications Bar Association Subcommittee on Privacy &
Data Security/D.C. Bar Computer & Telecommunications Law
Section, May 3, 2011.
- Theres an App for That! Local Government Use of Mobile
Apps: Some Legal Considerations: e- NATOA Webinar, February
28, 2011.
- The FTCs Privacy Report: What it means for Business:
Podcast, Media Future Now, December 30, 2010.
- Privacy & Biometrics in Higher Education: Strategies
for Minimizing Legal Risks: Educause Live! Webinar: Privacy
Issues Associated with the Use of Biometrics in Higher Education:
Risks and Best Practices November 18, 2010.
- Legal Issues Associated with Local Government use of Social
Media: Risks & Best Practices: 30th Annual Conference
of the National Association of Telecommunications Officers &
Advisors, September 29, 2010 Washington, D.C.
- Moderator, FCBA Privacy & Data Security Committee Program:
Privacy and Data Security Issues Involving Marketing to Minors,
May 19, 2010, Washington, D.C.
- An Examination Of Recent Legal Developments In Mobile Advertising
Along With Practical Considerations For Direct Response Retailing
Over The Mobile Channel, Electronic Retailer Magazine, March
2010.
- ERA Great Ideas Summit: Mobile is here - Now What: Recent
Legal & Regulatory Developments, February 2, 2010, New
Orleans.
Member: Privacy & Data Security Committee
of the Federal Communications Bar Association;
International Association of Privacy Professionals; and D.C. Bar
Section on Computers and
Telecommunications.
Read other bios: Jeffrey
Olson, Jack
Greenberg, Ari
Moskowitz