COLLEEN BROWN is a nationally recognized lawyer with an increasing focus on AI. She provides strategic advice on digital risk management for a diverse range of companies, including those in the financial, insurance, life sciences, tech, energy, telecommunications, media, retail, and manufacturing sectors. Her clients turn to her for compliance advising, digital governance, investigations, litigation and regulatory enforcement defense, and crisis management related to AI, privacy, cybersecurity, and incident response.
“Her technical expertise is really great.”
Chambers Global 2025
Colleen is widely viewed as a thought leader and go-to counsel in privacy and cybersecurity law, having developed an exceptional track record for steering her clients through their most challenging matters and achieving excellent results. She is ranked by Chambers USA (Nationwide, 2022–2025) and Chambers Global (USA, 2023–2025) in the Privacy & Data Security: Privacy and Privacy & Data Security: Cybersecurity categories. In the 2025 edition of Chambers USA, clients praised Colleen as “superb counsel” and that she “bridges the gap between legal and IT.” Global Data Review named her to its 2022 “Women in Data” list, The Lawyer Network recognized her as “Cybersecurity Lawyer of the Year” in Washington, D.C. (2021–2022), and Euromoney’s Women in Business Law listed her as one of the world’s leading female practitioners in Privacy and Data Protection (2022). Washingtonian named Colleen among its “Top Lawyers” for Cybersecurity in our nation’s capital (2018, 2024). She is also a recommended lawyer by Legal 500 U.S. for Cyber Law (including Data Privacy and Data Protection) (2024–2025), which notes, “Colleen Brown demonstrates ‘confidence in making judgment calls on complex issues.’”
Colleen is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP)/United States and a certified Artificial Intelligence Governance Professional (AIGP) through the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). She is on the Advisory Boards of the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Future of Privacy Forum in her personal capacity, and at Sidley she serves on the Steering Committee of the firm’s AI Working Group.
Colleen's counseling experience includes cyber risk and data breach management, corporate data protection and privacy compliance programs, international data protection and cross-border transfer, applied and generative AI, Big Data, Internet of Things, electronic surveillance, trade secrets, social media, cloud computing, and online brand protection. She also has significant experience in counseling and strategy under CAN-SPAM, CCPA, CFAA, COPPA, ECPA, ESIGN, FCRA, FOIA, GDPR, GLBA, HIPAA, the Privacy Act, TCPA, Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices, state privacy laws, and common law claims including defamation and privacy torts. As well, Colleen addresses privacy regulations and enforcement in federal agencies including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Federal Communications Commission, and she advises on industry self-regulation on privacy matters, including those related to online advertising and PCI DSS compliance.
In addition to counseling and litigation related to data protection, Colleen's work also includes counseling and negotiation of data-driven agreements, privacy and cybersecurity diligence, and integration planning for mergers and acquisitions. She is sought after nationwide for her deep experience in assessing privacy and cybersecurity risk in acquisitions.
At Sidley, Colleen co-founded Women in Privacy® (WIP), a networking group for women working as in-house counsel, compliance officers, and other professionals in the field of privacy. WIP holds regular meetings in the U.S. and the EU and is dedicated to thought leadership for women privacy professionals. She is a frequent speaker, writer, and commenter on privacy and cybersecurity legal developments affecting all industries, and the chief editor of the Sidley Blog Data Matters.