My name is Zulqarnain. I'm also known as Alex.
I read Law at King's College London and trained at Herbert Smith Freehills. I have spent over a decade building a practice at the intersection of data privacy, AI and technology law – across private practice, in-house and government.
When the UK Government needed a senior privacy advisor during the COVID-19 national emergency, I was seconded to the Joint Biosecurity Centre – the data analytical heart of NHS Test and Trace – advising senior civil servants and decision-makers on some of the most consequential data privacy questions of the pandemic (and our generation). The work was high-stakes, highly pressurised, and headline news. I am proud of the difference I made during that time.
I helped build EY's data privacy legal practice in the UK, advised global organisations on GDPR compliance and AI risk, served as a senior privacy advisor at the Wellcome Trust, and completed an international secondment in Abu Dhabi advising one of the world's largest oil companies.
Most recently, I was the lead AI privacy lawyer for EMEA at Morgan Stanley – the person the business came to when it had a question about AI and privacy that nobody had a clean answer to yet.
I enjoy playing the guitar. I can sing too (I think), although not quite sure if I am ready to give a live performance! I have a small Yorkshire Terrier named Louie.
"Alex was seconded from EY to the Joint BioSecurity Centre during the COVID pandemic and worked in my legal team... Alex worked exceptionally hard during the pandemic and I found him to be an excellent lawyer – thorough and with an eye for the important detail. Alex should be proud of the positive difference he made during that time."Tina Clapham CBE · Director, Trusted Data and Technology, UK Health Security Agency
"Working with Alex has been a pleasure. His professionalism and strong knowledge makes him a reliable privacy counsel. Someone you can rely on to make sure your privacy practices are legally sound. During his tenure, Alex provided numerous privacy advices, acting as a point of contact for legal advisory work across the business — in particular, privacy legal advice on the deployment of AI systems and use of AI tools, also in relation to any applicable DPIAs."Lorenzo Iobbi Honorati · Group Data Protection Officer, Head of International Privacy, Morgan Stanley
"Alex brought great focus to the Data Protection Audit, bringing his full range of legal superpowers — clarity on the law and commercially focused advice. We had great feedback from teams, including the CEOs, and credit for that must rest with Alex."Gordon Youngson · Director, Group Legal, Trust Payments
Please do feel free to get in touch – whether you'd like to discuss something or simply have a chat, I'd love to hear from you.
z.alex.rzk@gmail.com
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