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Blaze Waleski

Senior Counsel & CHS Director
Senior Counsel & CHS Director
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Areas of Focus

Overview

Blaze Waleski is a senior counsel in Crowell’s Privacy & Cybersecurity and Health Care Groups, where he counsels clients in various industries, including health care and financial, on privacy, data protection, cybersecurity, intellectual property and technology. He offers clients pragmatic solutions on complex issues such as compliance with local, state, national and global data protection laws and industry self-regulation, drafting and negotiating commercial and technology contracts and outsourcing arrangements, cross-border data transfers, safeguarding data and cybersecurity incident response, mitigation and remediation, and compliance with regulations governing health, financial and consumer privacy.

Blaze's privacy and cybersecurity work includes counseling clients on:

  • Corporate privacy and information security policies and procedures;
  • Data collection, use and sharing practices, particularly in online and mobile environments;
  • Privacy, information technology and IP strategizing and diligence in corporate transactions;
  • Interest-based, behavioral and targeted advertising;
  • Consumer-facing privacy notices, and data protection terms in commercial contracting;
  • Internal and external privacy and security audits and assessments;
  • Data security breach notification planning and action;
  • Data use for artificial intelligence; and
  • Privacy by design in digital technologies and mobile app and website development.

His intellectual property and technology work includes advising clients on patent, copyright and trademark licensing; software, content, data and financial index licensing; cloud-based solutions and SaaS/PaaS/IaaS arrangements and negotiating IT contracts; structuring equipment and hardware procurement; telecom agreements; and IT services, including networking, data centers, systems design and integration, contingency planning, and technology escrows. He also advises on the monetization of IP and technology assets, research and development projects (particularly in regard to data technologies and medical devices) and BPO/ITO/KPO outsourcing.

Blaze is a thought leader in the rapidly evolving privacy field. He is the author of Privacy Law, the first legal treatise on privacy, originally published in 2006. The treatise is published by Law Journal Press, a subsidiary of American Lawyer Media, and he updates it twice each year. He is active in various legal organizations in New York, contributing to committees on intellectual property, cyberspace law and technology transactions.

Before joining Crowell, Blaze served as in-house counsel at two major corporations. At The Nielsen Company (US), LLC, Blaze worked on issues in digital media, ad-tech, measurement, and data analytics at the global information research firm. At American International Group, Inc. (AIG), one of the world’s largest financial institutions, Blaze focused on information technology (IT) and commercial contracting, as well as data issues in the financial sector. Blaze has worked in private practice counseling numerous Fortune 500, middle market and multinational corporations, focusing on IP, technology, privacy and data protection in transactional, contracting and compliance matters.

Career & Education

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    • Fordham University, B.A., Economics and Political Science, Academic Honors
    • Rutgers Law School, J.D., Law Review
    • Fordham University, B.A., Economics and Political Science, Academic Honors
    • Rutgers Law School, J.D., Law Review

    • New York
    • New Jersey
    • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
    • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
    • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York
    • U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
    • New York
    • New Jersey
    • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
    • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
    • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York
    • U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

    • International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), CIPP/US certified
    • New York Intellectual Property Law Association
    • New York State Bar Association, Executive Committee, Intellectual Property Law Section
    • New York State Bar Association, Internet Law Committee, Intellectual Property Law Section
    • New York State Bar Association, Special Committee on Cyberspace Law; Chair, Subcommittee on Technology Transactions
    • Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Committee on Information Technology Law
    • International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), CIPP/US certified
    • New York Intellectual Property Law Association
    • New York State Bar Association, Executive Committee, Intellectual Property Law Section
    • New York State Bar Association, Internet Law Committee, Intellectual Property Law Section
    • New York State Bar Association, Special Committee on Cyberspace Law; Chair, Subcommittee on Technology Transactions
    • Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Committee on Information Technology Law

Blaze's Insights

Client Alert | 7 min read | 03.20.25

What Companies Need To Know From the California Privacy Protection Agency’s First CCPA Enforcement Action

On March 12, the California Consumer Privacy Protection Agency (“Agency”) announced it had entered into a settlement (“Settlement”) with American Honda Motor Company (“Honda”) to resolve the Agency’s claims that Honda violated the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”). The total fine to be paid by Honda is $632,500. The investigation came out of the Agency’s Enforcement Division’s focused review of privacy practices of connected vehicles and related technologies announced in July 2023. That review highlighted vehicles with embedded features such as location sharing, smartphone integration, and cameras, and we expect more automotive related Agency settlements to be issued in the near future....

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Practices

Blaze's Insights

Client Alert | 7 min read | 03.20.25

What Companies Need To Know From the California Privacy Protection Agency’s First CCPA Enforcement Action

On March 12, the California Consumer Privacy Protection Agency (“Agency”) announced it had entered into a settlement (“Settlement”) with American Honda Motor Company (“Honda”) to resolve the Agency’s claims that Honda violated the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”). The total fine to be paid by Honda is $632,500. The investigation came out of the Agency’s Enforcement Division’s focused review of privacy practices of connected vehicles and related technologies announced in July 2023. That review highlighted vehicles with embedded features such as location sharing, smartphone integration, and cameras, and we expect more automotive related Agency settlements to be issued in the near future....

View All Insights