Photo of Jena M. Valdetero

Jena M. Valdetero serves as Co-Chair of the firm’s U.S. Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Practice, and is a trusted advisor to clients facing complex and high-stakes data privacy and security challenges. With a track record of leading thousands of data breach investigations for more than 20 years, Jena combines her broad litigation experience with a deep understanding of the evolving privacy landscape to protect her clients’ interests. She is highly skilled in defending companies in privacy and data breach litigation, particularly class actions, and is proactive in helping clients prepare for incidents by designing and facilitating customized tabletop exercises.

Jena offers practical, results-driven counsel on data privacy and security compliance programs and guides clients through privacy and cyber risk considerations in mergers, acquisitions, venture capital, and securities transactions. Her experience spans a wide range of privacy laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the Gramm Leach Bliley Act (GLBA), and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Certified as a privacy professional through the International Association of Privacy Professionals (CIPP/US),  Jena provides clients with actionable insights on both current and emerging privacy regulations. She previously served as KnowledgeNet Co-Chair for the International Association of Privacy Professionals, further reflecting her leadership in the field. Jena is a founding board member of the Chicago Compassion Project, a nonprofit supporting low-income families in Chicago.

Jena has been recognized by Chambers USA as a leading privacy and data security lawyer, with clients praising her “very deep knowledge of subject matter” and calling her “extremely responsive and business-minded.” She is trusted for her “great strategic advice” and practical approach to complex data privacy issues, with one client saying, “I’d unequivocally recommend her to anybody with any kind of privacy or data breach concerns.”

The last remaining provisions of the amendments to the New York Department of Financial Services’ (DFS) cybersecurity regulation called Part 500 came into effect Nov. 1, 2025.…

Continue Reading NYDFS Final Cybersecurity Rules – MFA, Asset Inventory, and Third-Party Risk

On Oct. 22, 2024, the SEC announced settled administrative actions against four current or formerly public technology companies, finding that the companies all made materially misleading disclosures to investors in their periodic filings concerning the impact of the 2020 SolarWinds breach on their businesses. 

Continue reading the full GT Alert.

On May 16, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission finalized amendments to Regulation S-P (the Amendments) that largely adopt the proposed amendments the SEC issued in 2023. As discussed in further detail below, the Amendments will require broker-dealers, investment companies, SEC-registered investment advisers, funding portals, and transfer agents registered with the SEC or other…

On May 21, 2024, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Director of the Division of Corporation Finance Erik Gerding issued a statement clarifying when the SEC expects companies to disclose a cyber incident. This clarification helps guide public companies who wish to disclose a cyber incident but who have not yet determined if the incident is…

In a Halloween-eve move sure to send shivers down the spines of every public company’s CISO, on Oct. 30, the SEC filed a securities fraud complaint targeting SolarWinds’ CISO in the wake of their major December 2020 data security incident. The SEC alleges SolarWinds and its CISO committed securities fraud in connection with multiple public…

On July 26, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted the long-awaited final rule requiring that public companies disclose information about cybersecurity incidents within four business days of determining the incident is material. GT wrote about the proposed rule shortly after it was released in March 2022. For context, Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw noted, in…

On Feb. 9, 2022, the SEC released its long-awaited proposed cybersecurity rule, and there’s a lot to unpack. As GT reported previously, the SEC increased enforcement of cybersecurity compliance in 2021. As recently as Jan. 24, 2022, Chair Gary Gensler made cybersecurity the focus of his speech at Northwestern Law School’s Securities Regulation