Full Fathom Advisory

Legal and Policy Solutions for Online Trust and Compliance

Services

Full Fathom Advisory helps organizations understand emerging regulatory regimes, build governance structures that are proportionate to their size and risk profile, and make responsible decisions across safety, privacy, AI governance, and free expression.

Safety & Governance

Sustainable trust requires systems that protect users, uphold rights, and meet regulatory expectations. This includes building governance across domains like safety, privacy, responsible AI, and youth wellbeing. The focus should be on creating practical, risk-based, adaptable structures as products evolve and regulatory landscapes shift.

    • Frameworks that define accountability across trust domains.

    • Streamlined risk assessment processes that integrate into product and policy cycles.

    • Improved posture for regulatory touchpoints through documentation and controls.

Regulatory Readiness

Global regulations related to safety, privacy, youth protection, and AI governance are reshaping the digital landscape. Many technology companies feel this pressure acutely but lack the internal capacity to track developments or operationalize obligations. FFA can help teams identify key risks and requirements and determine what responsible compliance looks like.

    • Mapping and reconciliation of applicable requirements across jurisdictions

    • Prioritized, proportionate compliance roadmaps

    • Documentation suitable for regulators, partners, and app stores

Litigation Strategy & Support

Companies, nonprofits, and law firms navigate a range of litigation that touches online safety, platform responsibilities, and individual rights. Strategy and support services help develop theories and defenses, clarify facts, strengthen arguments, and incorporate expert-backed narratives.

    • Case analysis and positioning through briefing support, evidence organization, and preparation for discovery, testimony, or trial.

    • Structured assessments of strengths, gaps, and strategic opportunities.

    • Clear explanations of platform systems, policies, and risk controls that withstand technical and legal scrutiny.

Sectors

  • Consumer-facing services operate under intense scrutiny from users and regulators. They often need help aligning safety, privacy, and youth-protection imperatives with evolving expectations—especially as product features scale globally. Support can build foundational governance and strengthen risk assessment, policy, and cross-functional processes that demonstrate responsibility and responsiveness.

  • Social discovery products face elevated risks around user interactions, authenticity, and boundary-setting. They benefit from tailored guidance on safeguarding vulnerable users, implementing effective trust systems, and preparing for regulatory attention on youth protection, content ranking, and consent-driven features. Advisory work can center on practical controls that preserve engagement while reducing harm.

  • Marketplaces must prioritize user trust, seller integrity, and transactional safety. They often need support with seller verification, fraud mitigation, dispute systems, and obligations tied to illegal or unsafe goods. Advisory help can clarify duty-of-care expectations, tighten operational governance, and build processes for enforcement and transparency.

  • Gaming environments present unique challenges—real-time interactions, youth-heavy populations, community dynamics, and complex UGC ecosystems. Studios and platforms often need help strengthening player safety frameworks, moderating voice/chat features, and preparing for compliance obligations linked to minors, monetization, and cross-border operations.

  • Nonprofits working in online safety, rights advocacy, or community support often operate with limited resources yet face high expectations from funders, press, and partners. They benefit from structured guidance on governance, program design, risk management, and demonstrating impact. Support can help clarify strategy, sharpen operational practices, and strengthen credibility with external stakeholders.

  • Universities and research centers increasingly interact with platform governance questions, through partnerships, data access, or studies involving youth, vulnerable populations, or digital environments. They often need help ensuring ethical rigor, aligning with regulatory constraints, and building trusted collaborations with industry.

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About

Hugh Handeyside

I’ve spent my entire career helping organizations navigate complexity, risk, and ambiguity — first in in the intelligence community, then as a cross-border and impact litigator, then in digital safety and governance. I thrive when evaluating messy, high‑risk environments and building prioritized, implementable roadmaps and systems.

I support clients through advisory engagements, legal and regulatory risk analyses, tailored research, and collaborative projects with compliance, policy, and operational teams.

Experience

  • Policy Director, Digital Safety Unit, Microsoft

  • Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU National Security Project

  • Attorney, Corr Cronin LLP

  • Judicial Law Clerk, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

  • Attorney, Perkins Coie LLP

  • Analyst, Central Intelligence Agency

Education

  • Stanford University, BA

  • London School of Economics, MSc

  • University of Michigan Law School, JD

Bar Admissions

  • Washington

  • New York

Contact

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