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Nigel Howard

For over 30 years Nigel Howard has specialized in technology transactions such as M&A, strategic alliances, licensing, distribution agreements and outsourcing. Clients range from start-ups and emerging companies to international corporations. He has led negotiations of billion dollar service agreements that were critical to his client, and successfully handled the intellectual property and data issues on over 250 venture capital and M&A transactions.

Nigel is a "tremendous attorney" singled out for his detail-oriented approach, according to clients interviewed by Chambers and Partners. Peer commentators note his admirable commercial awareness, which achieves business-focused results, often in the most challenging of circumstances. He uses his extensive experience with IP and technology to advise on the commercial imperatives underlying these agreements.

Nigel has been ranked by Chambers Global, Chambers USA, Legal 500, Best Lawyers in America, and Who’s Who in American Law. He is frequent speaker on AI, data, distribution, and technology legal issues. His past and current clients include American Airlines, the American Bankers Association, American Express, AstraZeneca, British Airways, Brown Brothers Harriman, Cathay Pacific, Cisco, CoBank, DoubleClick, Etihad, HPE, Farelogix, Iberia, Mars, Merck, Merrill Lynch, Microsoft, NCR, the NFL, Novartis, P&G, Philippine Airlines, Promontory Financial, Singapore Airlines, Teva, TouchTunes, UBS, and Wyeth.

Contact:Read more about Nigel HowardEmail

This update focuses on how growing quantum sector investment in the UK and US is leading to the development and commercialization of quantum computing technologies with the potential to revolutionize and disrupt key sectors.  This is a fast-growing area that is seeing significant levels of public and private investment activity.  We take a look at how approaches differ in the UK and US, and discuss how a concerted, international effort is needed both to realize the full potential of quantum technologies and to mitigate new risks that may arise as the technology matures.

Quantum Computing

Quantum computing uses quantum mechanics principles to solve certain complex mathematical problems faster than classical computers.  Whilst classical computers use binary “bits” to perform calculations, quantum computers use quantum bits (“qubits”).  The value of a bit can only be zero or one, whereas a qubit can exist as zero, one, or a combination of both states (a phenomenon known as superposition) allowing quantum computers to solve certain problems exponentially faster than classical computers. 

The applications of quantum technologies are wide-ranging and quantum computing has the potential to revolutionize many sectors, including life-sciences, climate and weather modelling, financial portfolio management and artificial intelligence (“AI”).  However, advances in quantum computing may also lead to some risks, the most significant being to data protection.  Hackers could exploit the ability of quantum computing to solve complex mathematical problems at high speeds to break currently used cryptography methods and access personal and sensitive data. 

This is a rapidly developing area that governments are only just turning their attention to.  Governments are focusing not just on “quantum-readiness” and countering the emerging threats that quantum computing will present in the hands of bad actors (the US, for instance, is planning the migration of sensitive data to post-quantum encryption), but also on ramping up investment and growth in quantum technologies. Continue Reading Quantum Computing: Developments in the UK and US

Airport tracking notice.jpgWhile online “tracking” using cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies has captured the attention of regulators and the plaintiffs’ bar over the last decade, recent articles in Forbes and the New York Times make clear that offline tracking is also evolving.  Using technological methods beyond the traditional loyalty program, this new offline tracking has potential privacy implications. 

The New York Times and other news organizations have devoted attention to offline tracking in shopping malls and other retail contexts, in which merchants attempt to get a better understanding of the traffic in their stores, consumers’ reactions to the display of merchandise and other shopping behaviors.  This post focuses on airports (increasingly a shopping venue, as well as transportation hub).  It appears that a number of airports have adopted offline tracking systems to enable the airport to understand passenger patterns and trends, improve capacity management, provide real-time information about the airport (e.g., wait times at security lines) and understand retail behavior.  These systems detect Bluetooth or WiFi signals emitted from smartphones and tablets to track passengers within the airport.  The systems do not “pair” with the device, and thus the only data that they collect is the unique device identifier (UDID).  One of the providers of these systems has informed me that their sensors use a one-way hash of the UDID, converting it at the sensor level to a string of numbers that would be difficult to convert back to the original UDID.   Continue Reading New Offline Tracking Methods Come to Airports

Last week, Amadeus, which provides one of the three major global distribution systems to the travel industry, published a report on big data authored by Thomas Davenport (currently a visiting professor at the Harvard Business School).  Davenport identifies data privacy issues as a major challenge to the use of big data and suggests that proceeding with “permission, transparency and with delicacy” is key.  However, his summary and recommendations do not mention how the privacy challenge can be addressed.  In this post I will highlight some of the most interesting aspects of the report and will add my own recommendations for what companies in the travel industry should be considering in terms of privacy.  

  • Data scientists and machine learning.  Tom Davenport’s report identifies the increasing importance (and scarcity) of data scientists and how they are critical to understanding machine learning (one of the aspects of big data that is different from traditional forms of data analytics).  McKinsey made a similar point in their report on big data.  Less frequently discussed is the fact that data scientists will access a great deal of personal and sensitive data.  Because of this, background checks before hiring and post-hiring privacy training will be especially important.  Indeed, sensitivity to privacy issues should be considered a core competency of the data scientists. 

Continue Reading Recommendations for Big Data in the Travel Industry

Personalization of the shopping experience is a hot topic in the travel industry.  It has also prompted privacy regulators to consider the implications for the consumer.  For example, the Article 29 Data Protection Working Party in April issued a letter to the International Air Transportation Association (IATA) on this topic and a…

Continue Reading Personalization of travel shopping

California Attorney General Kamala Harris failed in her first attempt to sue a company for failing to post a privacy policy on a mobile app.

Harris alleged that Delta Airlines violated the California Online Privacy Protection Act (“CalOPPA”) by failing to include a privacy policy on its mobile app- The lawsuit, in the California Superior Court in San Francisco, was the first enforcement action under CalOPPA since it came into force in 2004.

On Thursday, the district court granted Delta’s motion to dismiss the complaint, concluding that the Airline Deregulation Act (ADA) pre-empts the state’s claims. The ADA provides that “a State….may not enact or enforce a law, regulation, or other provision having the force and effect of law related to a price, route, or service of an air carrier.” Courts have construed the scope of preemption by the ADA broadly, and the majority of courts which have considered the issue have held that the ADA preempts the application of state consumer protection laws to airlines. See Morales v. Trans World Airlines, 504 U.S. 374 (1992). The judge decided that the operation of a mobile app for air travel services is “related to price, route or service of an air carrier” and thus agreed with Delta’s argument that the California AG’s claim is pre-empted.
Continue Reading Delta succeeds in dismissing California AG’s first CalOPPA case

On April 29, Craigslist was successful in fighting off a motion to dismiss filed by three screenscraping sites (3Taps, Padmapper and Lovely) in its pending litigation in the Northern District of California.   In Craigslist Inc. v. 3Taps Inc., No. CV 12-03816 (N.D. Cal.), Craigslist sued these sites, alleging that…

Continue Reading Craigslist wins first step against screenscapers – lesson for drafting TOUs

The DOT announced today that the fourth in a series of public meetings of the Advisory Committee on Aviation Consumer Protection will focus on privacy issues. This DOT Committee has been working on various rulemaking and enforcement initiatives affecting consumer protection in air travel, but this will be the first time that privacy practices and use of data have been made the central topic of a Committee meeting. The DOT supervises airlines privacy practices because airlines are subject to sector-specific oversight (the FTC Act provides that air carriers are among the businesses excepted from the FTC’s authority to regulate unfair or deceptive business practices).
Continue Reading DOT shifts consumer protection focus to privacy

California Attorney General Kamala Harris has made good on her promise to get tough with mobile app makers that fail to provide privacy policies in their apps.  Yesterday, her office sued Delta Airlines for violating the California Online Privacy Protection Act (“CalOPPA”), which requires providers of websites and “online services&rdquo…

Continue Reading Delta Sued for Failure to Provide In-App Privacy Policy

As states are initiating docket proceedings related to smart meter privacy and passing privacy protection legislation to regulate utility providers utilizing smart meters, it is interesting to note how one utility provider has taken steps towards protecting consumer privacy. 

San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) is a utility provider based in southern California.  California has been one of the most active states in the country in proactively regulating the protection of smart grid consumer data.  So SDG&E has sought to address the regulatory and consumer concerns by adopting Privacy by Design with respect to its smart meter programs.

This blog has previously covered the FTC’s adoption of Privacy by Design as a central component of its recent privacy report.  The premise underlying Privacy by Design is that companies will better protect consumer data privacy if they fully incorporate safeguards and a culture of respecting privacy into the early stages of operations, rather than simply responding to legislation and regulations.Continue Reading Privacy by Design for smart meters