John  O'Connor

Partner

John is a Partner in William Fry’s Technology Group, the most experienced technology law team in the Irish market.

John O'Connor

He specialises in complex and large scale technology and outsourcing transactions including systems integration and implementation arrangements, licensing, IT and business process outsourcings and cloud services.

John is also a specialist in the area of privacy, data protection and cyber security law and advises on general compliance, data transfers, hosting, issue management and best practice. He has gained particular experience of advising technology, life sciences and financial services organisations on major outsourcings and on ‘big data’ projects including the procurement and deployment of FinTech. He is a highly experienced lawyer and prior to joining William Fry led the Technology and Data Protection practices of another leading Irish law firm.

Recent work includes advising:

  • several of the world’s largest technology and social media organisations on systems implementations, licensing, cloud services and data protection matters;
  • several global life sciences companies on the arrangements that underpin clinical trials, contract manufacturing arrangements, data analytics projects and public sector tenders;
  • one of Ireland’s main clearing banks on several outsourcings and technology procurements;
  • on the largest and most complex outsourcings in the Irish market to date.
2026 Legal 500 EMEA
2026 Chambers Europe
2025 Legal 500 EMEA
2025 Chambers FinTech
2024 Chambers Europe

Practice Areas

PrivacySource
Cyber Security
Data Protection & Privacy
Fintech
Reputation Risk Management
Technology
Artificial Intelligence

Related Sectors

Technology, Data & Comms
Financial Services

Related Knowledge

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Article and Insights

Tokenisation in Ireland & the EU

Tokenisation of assets on-chain is gaining significant momentum in financial services across the European Union and Ireland.

John O’Connor
Partner
John O’Connor
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Article and Insights

Beyond Outsourcing: EBA’s New Finalised Guidelines

EBA aligns management of third-party risk regarding non-ICT services with standards set by DORA.

John O’Connor
Partner
John O’Connor
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ESMA Targets CASP Custody Resilience

ESMA begins a supervisory review of crypto-asset service providers' digital resilience, running into 2027.

John O’Connor
Partner
John O’Connor
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Article and Insights

Podcast: Inside the AI Act: Barry Scannell and John O’Connor on the Transparency Obligations

Technology Partners Dr. Barry Scannell joined John O'Connor for the latest instalment of our Lunchtime AI Series for AI enthusiasts.

Barry Scannell
Partner
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The EDPB’s Anonymisation Standard: New Draft Guidelines

When is personal data anonymous? The EDPB has published draft Guidelines 02/2026 setting out its standard for data anonymisation under the GDPR.

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EU Distance Marketing Directive Transposed into Irish Law

The new Irish rules modernise distance financial services contracts and strengthen consumer protections.

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Central Bank Updates MCC Requirements

The Central Bank of Ireland has updated the Minimum Competency Code framework to reflect changes under the Consumer Protection Code 2025 and MiCA.

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Article and Insights

Technology Report 2026: Legal & Regulatory Lead the Agenda

Why legal and regulatory now sit at the front of the queue.

John O’Connor
Partner
John O’Connor
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PSD3/PSR: Final compromise texts are published

On 23 April 2026, the Council of the European Union published the awaited final compromise texts for the legislative proposals on the Third Payment...

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Central Bank 2026 Regulatory and Supervisory Outlook – Payments and E-Money

Our Financial Regulation team reviews the Payments and Electronic Money section of the 2026 Central Bank RSO.

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