Data Protection Breakfast Club with Andy & Pedro: Recent Episodes
TechGC
Stay on top of the latest and greatest about tech law, data protection and privacy with hosts Andy Dale, General Counsel & Chief Privacy Officer at Alyce and Pedro Pavón, Privacy, Ads, and Data Policy at Facebook/Meta. Guests include GCs, CPOs, Product/Marketing leaders, Policy Leaders, CEOs and law firm lawyers.
Andy and Pedro are active members of TechGC, an invitation-only community of General Counsels of high-growth technology companies and venture funds. Request invitation to join the TechGC Community at techgc.co
Nubiaa Shabaka combines a wealth of expertise in privacy/cybersecurity with a deep curiosity and love of learning/collaborating. It is a skill we have consistently seen in several big organization CPOs. And Nubiaa has had some of the biggest roles you can have in privacy/cyber at a mix of very complex organizations. Currently she is the VP, & Chief Cybersecurity Legal/Privacy Officer @ Adobe and was Chief Cybersecurity Legal/Privacy Officer @ American International Group (AIG) and in a similar leadership role @ Morgan Stanley.
In addition to her day job, Nubiaa also works closely on Adobe’s Data Governance program and sits on its AI leadership groups.
We last talked with Greg in October of 2021. In that episode we covered Greg’s law firm days, in-house career and formation of TechGC with his Co-Founder Kiran Lingam.
We catch up with Greg again to discuss the growth of the L Suite and really just the impact of “community” on our work and life. And of course we will tackle the very important question of the best pizza in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Would you move for your dream job? Aaron Mendelsohn did, but not a simple move. He and his family relocated to Denmark when he got an opportunity to join the LEGO Group and help support its privacy journey. We rarely see a US lawyer going to Europe and its a fascinating story.
Aaron loves the LEGO Group brand deeply (and so do we). Supporting a company and brand which you personally use and love often goes a long way in doing your best work!
Simon McDougall doesn’t take the easy road, never has. He likes hard problems and isn’t afraid to dig in and try to solve them. Simon has a deep sense of pragmatism and business balance which makes him an effective leader.
He is currently the Chief Compliance Officer of ZoomInfo and was previously Deputy Commissioner for the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s independent authority for upholding information rights. While @ the ICO he established new technology policy and innovation functions working on artificial intelligence, adtech, and competition. Simon also has worked for years in consulting at Promontory (an IBM company) and Deloitte.
We last talked with Jules on March 17, 2021 over 3 years ago! A LOT has happened since. That episode was a career retro covering Jules’ time @ AOL, DoubleClick and in government. This time we dig in with Jules on the current global and US privacy laws, Artificial Intelligence, Clean Rooms, Public Policy and the role of “think tanks” in both society and in the privacy community.
In this episode, we catch up with Trevor Hughes, who has grown IAPP Membership from 300 to 80,000. We last spoke with him 3 years ago, right after January 6th. Now, amidst a rapidly changing global privacy landscape and a booming tech sector driven by AI, we revisit for fresh insights about the present and future.
Christina Montgomery is IBM’s Chief Privacy & Trust Officer and has spent over 29 years at the company! In that time Christina has just about done it all from a legal perspective. Prior to her current role, she was Secretary to IBM’s Board of Directors, was Managing Attorney, overseeing the IBM law department’s strategic and transformational initiatives, hiring and recruiting, professional development, budget management, and other projects on a worldwide basis.Now Christina is leading the charge on IBM’s AI Ethics Board speaking publicly about the challenges and benefits of emerging AI technologies.
In this episode the guys chat 1x1 without guest about the key relationship between legal and sales. The discussion covers highs, lows, contracting, privacy negotiation and some hilarious anecdotes!
In this episode, we dive into the world of data privacy with Keith Enright, the Chief Privacy Officer at Google. Keith's long-standing leadership in the privacy profession shines as we explore his calm and steady approach to handling the vast challenges that come his way. With a track record that includes leading privacy at Macy's and serving as a General Counsel, Keith is more than a leader; he's a visionary in the field. Discover how he guides Google's worldwide privacy team and how he plays a pivotal role in shaping responsible AI. Join us for an insightful conversation with one of the foremost voices in data privacy.
Harvey Jang is the type of leader you want to work with. He is affable, open and leads with positive intent. In a world of constant change and at a company where IP and Innovation are literally the foundation, he leans into that dynamism and it makes him a compelling leader.
In addition to Cisco, Harvey serves on the Board of Directors for the IAPP and is on the faculty for their privacy and AI governance certifications. Prior to that, he worked on legal/privacy teams @ intel, HP and Symantec.
At Cisco Harvey leads a global team of privacy professionals, lawyers, and engineers in developing and operationalizing Cisco’s privacy policies and standards, privacy by design, and accountability frameworks. He is also active in Cisco’s AI, business and human rights, and DEI initiatives as well.
Tim Parilla is a loyal friend, teammate and confidant. He flies planes, loves dogs, cocktails and just kicking back to have some laughs. His leadership style is steady, calm and eyes on the horizon - like the pilot you want.
At Linksquares leads legal, HR, Operations and IT, and works closely with product development at Linksquares, a late stage legal tech company. He previously spent 7 years as GC @ DraftKings. There, he scaled the legal function, managed the company’s legal posture through multiple fundraises, managed the very public, high profile legal challenges the company faced in 2015 and eventually worked on its SPAC IPO.
Cynthia Cole has been a GC, CEO, and Head of HR! She has also been a Partner @ Baker Botts and now at Baker McKenzie. At Baker Botts she built the technology transactions and data privacy practice. An intellectual property and tech transactions attorney, Cynthia also has expertise in AI, digital transformation, data privacy, and cybersecurity strategy. Cynthia also occupies a unique role in acting as outside general counsel to a number of executive teams and boards.
We welcome back our good friend Phil Lee to the podcast to discuss life as a lawyer and now entrepreneur - having built his own firm Digiphile from the ground up. In addition to knowing the GDPR and all EU laws inside and out Phil is a dedicated Back to the Future and Star Wars fan, lego builder, tech lover and all around fun person to be with. He lived in California, helping launch Fieldfisher’s US office and enjoyed being in the tech center of the US. It helped Phil attain a certain advantage and balance in their representation of US clients who serve the EU.
Ron has had an incredible run in privacy leadership and isn’t stopping anytime soon. He’s been a critical privacy leader at Deloitte and PwC and worked for brands like Amex, Coach & Kate Spade. He drove privacy at Tinder/Match and most recently led privacy efforts at Grindr as Chief Privacy Officer. Now Ron owns his own consulting company and is a leader in the privacy space at large.
Laura Belmont, accomplished attorney and compliance professional, a leader in complex issue resolution, collaboration, and data-driven decision-making as General Counsel at Civis Analytics, blending business success with community service.
Alan is the rock and roll adtech and privacy lawyer. He’s not only an actual singer/musician, but he’s a rockstar in the adtech privacy world and he’s been rocking hard for years. Alan isn’t afraid to take positions, debate issues and advocate for his clients and the industry.
Guest: Elise Houlik, Chief Privacy Officer @ Intuit
Elise Houlik’s privacy team at Intuit team is deeply engaged with its business teams. A hallmark of her leadership is this type of partnership with cross-functional teams - supporting a true privacy by design and rooted privacy culture.
Elise also spent time at Mastercard as SVP/Assistant General Counsel - Privacy & Data Protection leading North American and LATAM privacy as well as the teams supporting open banking, SMB, B2B, digital payments and partnerships, start-ups, cryptocurrency / blockchain, marketing and communications, HR, operations & technology, and corporate security. Elise also spent time at Fannie Mae in Washington, DC, acting as the company’s Lead Privacy & Cybersecurity counsel.
Guest: Jessica Lee, Chair Privacy, Security & Data Innovations Practice @ Loeb & Loeb
Summary: Jessica Lee has a wide ranging practice covering most areas of technology, data, social media and entertainment. She’s one of those rare lawyers who can bridge the divide between practice areas with a pragmatic approach to problem solving. She’s also a runner having completed multiple marathons which makes privacy a cake walk (run). Jessica finds time as well to advise non-profits as a board member
For many years Amy Stewart was a complex commercial litigator specializing in competition and trade secrets. After 30+ years at the Rose Law Firm in Little Rock, Arkansas, Amy took the leap to join LiveRamp as General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer. It was a wild time, as LiveRamp’s parent company Acxiom, her long-time client, had just sold its data business to IPG and LiveRamp began operating as a stand-alone public company headquartered in San Francisco.
Amy has seen a ton of change and has the incredible ability to connect to the immediately salient strategic business narrative and craft a legal growth plan to complement
Dennis Olle has a long standing love of the natural world and brings that passion to his work as well. He is a mentor to young lawyers and an attorney who has passion for things well beyond day to day life as a partner in a law firm. He is a corporate lawyer with extensive background in capital formation, public and private offerings, and M&A transactions. He also counsels clients in a wide array of general corporate matters. But, there's so much more to Dennis' view of the practice of law...
Shira Anderson loves Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The TV show, NOT the movies to be clear. She's also a lawyer and public policy leader focused on global privacy and data policy @ Meta. Her background in international law is key in this role and past lives include stints as a PR and marketing manager, copy editor, and she served in the Israel Defense Forces Foreign Relations Unit.
Richy Glassberg knows someone you know. Well. He’s affable to the moon. And that’s a really important skill for a leader. Richy is yet another example of someone who came up in AdTech and has now embraced the privacy challenge.
The DPBC podcast is a TechGC production. Learn more about the TechGC's thriving in-house legal community at techgc.co Follow TechGC on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/techgc
Steve Blickensderfer has an amazing mustache - epic one! But, he also leads privacy for public gaming company Krafton. Steve’s role is to manage the global regulatory team across all laws impacting the video game industry. The video game space is one of those sneaky challenging areas as it cuts across nearly every area of regulation. Oh and also it has geo-political issues to handle too!
The DPBC podcast is a TechGC production. Learn more about the TechGC's thriving in-house legal community at techgc.co Follow TechGC on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/techgc
Anne Bradley is a builder of foundational privacy programs having done this with two major global brands, Nike and Hulu. In addition to building, Anne has scaled these complex orgs and created lasting privacy team legacies. The DPBC podcast is a TechGC production. Learn more about the TechGC's thriving in-house legal community at techgc.coFollow TechGC on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/techgc
The Customer Data Platform (CDP) space has grown massively in the last 5 years. CDPs often present different capabilities in different verticals with value props that vary. But, in every use case privacy and data sit at the center. And, BlueConic CEO Cory Munchbach has understood that for a long time going all the way back to her time as an analyst at Forrester. She has seen the forest through the trees, understanding that if you intend to ingest and process personal data at scale - a privacy lens is critical.
Susan Rohol has worked in various privacy leadership roles at Warner for over 5 years and was with Nike leading Privacy, Data and IP Policy. She has also worked on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Susan brings a highly practical approach to incredibly complex problems. And she couples this with deep legal knowledge, balance and sense of humor.The DPBC podcast is a TechGC production. Learn more about the TechGC's thriving in-house legal community at techgc.coFollow TechGC on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/techgc
Julia Shullman is the most technical privacy lawyer you’ll find. She spent countless hours with tech teams at AppNexus, Xandr and TripleLift to become proficient in data flows and how technology fuels advertising. Now with Coir and in her work as a Consultant she melds her technical skills and acumen for ever-shifting privacy laws to help companies.
The DPBC podcast is a TechGC production. Learn more about the TechGC's thriving in-house legal community at techgc.co
Follow TechGC on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/techgc
Employment lawyer to DoorDash privacy lead. Not your typical path, but then again how many “typical” paths are there to anything? Adam Rivera has had a career that has spanned consumer goods, tech providers in the legal and news space, financial services and now at a leading local commerce and tech company. This variety has given him a broad privacy and legal frame that manifests as versatility.
The DPBC podcast is a TechGC production. Learn more about the TechGC's thriving in-house legal community at techgc.co
Follow TechGC on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/techgc
Andrew Woods has a POV. He’s not going to lob legal advice over a fence and walk away. He will have a take and will be deeply engaged in the decision-making process. Andrew was a law firm associate, founder/GC then an adtech lawyer at Turn. Eventually he landed at Twitter and his role grew as the leader of the commercial legal for Twitter’s revenue products. Recently he took the job as GC of PubMatic a publicly traded adtech platform.
The DPBC podcast is a TechGC production. Learn more about the TechGC's thriving in-house legal community at techgc.co
Follow TechGC on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/techgc
Mark Cockerill is a lawyer who gets right to the point. Frankly he doesn’t have time to waste! He’s a busy dad of 3 and the site lead for ServiceNow’s active presence in Ireland, as well as an interest in American Football of all things. His current remit covers a broad array of legal issues - but he also ran ServiceNow’s global privacy program for a number of years.
The DPBC podcast is a TechGC production. Learn more about the TechGC's thriving in-house legal community at techgc.co
Follow TechGC on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/techgc
Shirley Paley sees the big picture. She’s a strategic GC and leader covering companies with varied legal needs. While her background is in IP she has a multifaceted legal leadership approach having served as GC at 2 very different companies. Prior to those GC roles she was instrumental in the growth and eventual acquisition of Demandware by Salesforce which became Commerce Cloud. Currently she’s leading legal at Formlabs, one of the largest 3D printing companies.
The DPBC podcast is a TechGC production. Learn more about the TechGC's thriving in-house legal community at https://www.techgc.co/
Follow Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-dale-7705b83/
Follow TechGC on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/techgc
The original “collaborator” CPO is Todd Ruback. For years he has run a NYC based roundtable of top CPOs who can focus on real world privacy issues behind closed doors. Todd dove deep into AdTech in 2012 as CPO/GC of Evidon/Ghostery the formative website cookie tool. Since then Todd has led consulting groups at Promontory and now FTI.
he DPBC podcast is a TechGC production. Learn more about the TechGC's thriving in-house legal community at https://www.techgc.co/
Follow Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-dale-7705b83/
Follow TechGC on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/techgc
Daniel Barber founded DataGrail in 2018 after a successful run in tech sales and biz dev. Daniel came up in the early days of MarTech with Responsys, Datanyze, ToutApp and others. DataGrail solves data privacy challenges with a host of integrations and DSR flow management tools. Daniel recently announced that DataGrail raised a $45 Series C financing to propel further growth.
The DPBC podcast is a TechGC production. Learn more about the TechGC's thriving in-house legal community at https://www.techgc.co/
Follow Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-dale-7705b83/ Follow TechGC on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/techgc
We’re joined by Omer Tene our friend from his IAPP days! Omer is one of the leading data protection law and policy practitioners in the world. Rarely does someone beat him to analysis of new laws or issues on Twitter. He’s a must-follow and one of the top thinkers in our space! And he’s got a great sense of humor to boot.
The DPBC podcast is a TechGC production. Learn more about the TechGC's thriving in-house legal community at https://www.techgc.co/
Follow Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-dale-7705b83/ Follow TechGC on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/techgc
Manas Mohapatra is one of those rare lawyers that can context shift quickly and not lose a step in legal and business analysis. He led the early days Privacy Program at Twitter after some time with the FTC and a law firm. Following Twitter he was CPO at Viacom navigating a massive, matrixed media conglomerate. Eventually Manas moved to BNY focusing on commercial, privacy and payments/blockchain which took him to the GC role he holds now. See what we mean?!
Learn more about the community that helps General Counsels in their day to day, TechGC (https://www.techgc.co/)
Follow Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-dale-7705b83/
Follow TechGC on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/techgc
Andy & Pedro speak with Alexandra Ebert, a Responsible AI, synthetic data & privacy expert who serves as Chief Trust Officer at MOSTLY AI. As a member of the company's executive leadership team, she is engaged in public policy issues in the emerging field of synthetic data and Ethical AI and is responsible for engaging with the privacy community, with regulators, the media, and with customers. The DPBC podcast is a TechGC production. Learn more about the TechGC's thriving in-house legal community at https://www.techgc.co/ Follow Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-dale-7705b83/ Follow TechGC on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/techgc
Our guest is Victoria Beckman, long time privacy and cyber lawyer who has seen it all. She’s now leading the Digital Crimes Americas Team at Microsoft.
Learn more about the community that helps General Counsels in their day to day, TechGC (https://www.techgc.co/)
Follow Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-dale-7705b83/
Follow TechGC on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/techgc
Manuel Martinez-Herrera is GC and Exec sponsor of D&I at BetterCloud. He took BetterCloud through a recent acquisition by Vista Equity Partners. Manuel has been practicing law for more than 15 years including stints in Barcelona, Madrid, Buenos Aires, and New York. Before BetterCloud, Manuel held roles at Namely, MetLife and was an associate at White & Case. Manuel loves pencils, Roberto Bolaño novels, and Real Madrid.
Learn more about the community that helps General Counsels in their day to day, TechGC (https://www.techgc.co/)
Follow Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-dale-7705b83/
Follow TechGC on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/techgc
Collin is the Founder and Chairman of New Era ADR. Collin was previously General Counsel at Reverb. Reverb was acquired by Etsy in 2019. Prior to Reverb, Collin was the first attorney at a healthcare technology start-up in Chicago as well as Corporate Counsel at Oracle.
Learn more about the community that helps General Counsels in their day to day, TechGC (https://www.techgc.co/)
Follow Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-dale-7705b83/
Follow TechGC on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/techgc
Andy & Pedro discuss all things with Zareena Javed - General Counsel at Drift.
Zareena Javed the GC at Drift has built a legal team from zero, and taken the company from early stage to PE exit. And she has done it with a lean, business minded team/approach. She’s a GSD GC in all ways.
Learn more about the community that helps General Counsels in their day to day, TechGC (https://www.techgc.co/)
Follow Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-dale-7705b83/
Follow TechGC on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/techgc
Andy & Pedro discuss all things privacy with Kirk Nahra, the Mt Rushmore of Data Privacy. A noted HIPAA pro Kirk has been in the privacy game since the beginning and continues to lead.
In 2021 Kirk won the Vanguard Award from the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) which recognizes one IAPP member each year who demonstrates exceptional leadership, knowledge and creativity in privacy and data protection.
Learn more about the community that helps General Counsels in their day to day, TechGC (https://www.techgc.co/)
Follow Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-dale-7705b83/
Follow TechGC on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/techgc
Andy & Pedro speak with Sivan Whiteley to discuss all things around being an effective General Counsel.
Learn more about the community that helps General Counsels in their day to day, TechGC (https://www.techgc.co/)
Follow Andy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-dale-7705b83/
Follow TechGC on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/techgc
Andy & Pedro speak with both Megan Niedermeyer (GC) & Alexis Kirkman (AGC & Privacy) of Fivetran about structuring a legal department, data privacy, company culture, gaining trust as a legal leader, and many other topics.
The Data Protection Breakfast Club is presented by TechGC - an invitation-only community of GCs and DeputyGCs who help each other in their day to day. Find out more at techgc.co
Andy & Pedro speak with with Angelique Carson - Director of Content Strategy at TerraTrue.After 10 years creating privacy content at the IAPP including her incredible podcast “The Privacy Advisor”, Angelique Carson now leads content strategy at a privacy tech startup called TerraTrue that is gaining steam in the tech/privacy community. Angelique has a unique voice and brings privacy to the masses - in fact you might say she was the first person to really lean into privacy content.
The DPBC is produced by TechGC - an invitation only community of General Counsels & Deputy General Counsels. To find out more and how to become a member, visit techgc.co
The featured guest for this episode is Danielle Sheer, Chief Legal Officer at Commvault. Danielle is a Founding Member of TechGC and an experienced GC at multiple companies, both public and private.
In this episode, Andy, Pedro, & Danielle cover...
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Processes and experiences for vetting opportunities and companies
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Strategies for prioritization and productivity
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Methods of personal fulfillment in the workplace
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Working with executives and board members
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Pedro's 2 week journey on his motorcycle
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TechGC's Privacy Virtual Forum on June 23
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and many other topics...
In this episode, Andy & Pedro speak with Andrew Howard, Director - Privacy & Data Policy at Meta, who is also a working colleague to Pedro. They cover many topics including...
- Andrew's background and how his study of Geography shaped his career
- Team-building & Management, especially with people who are extremely smart
- Andrew's time at Microsoft
- Microsoft now as a company
- Andrew at Meta and his top 1% status
- How the landscape has changed at Meta, particularly after 2016 election
- Privacy issues & approaches at Meta
- Privacy issues at a small company vs. large company
- Deciding what is considered "fairness" what the the metric of fairness should be
- How the landscape of privacy shakes out and how soon
- Andrew's 80's focus
- and so much more...
Andy and Pedro are active members of TechGC, an invitation-only community of General Counsels of high-growth technology companies and venture funds. TechGC was founded by 2 Venture GC’s 2015 and now has over 2,500 GC members around the world and over 1,300 senior in-house counsel as part of the DeputyGC Program. Members range from early startups to late stage companies like Lyft, Slack, Pinterest, Dropbox, Cloudflare, etc.) or from venture funds (like Founders Fund, Softbank, First Round, Battery, etc.).
Request invitation to join the TechGC Community here
Andy & Pedro chat with Sonia about trends in Web3/Blockchain as well as operating as a privacy professional in a high-growth and uncertain space. - How Sonia got into her role - The privacy challenges - The antiquated privacy laws not matching innovation - Trends in Web3 & Blockchain - And many more topics... Andy & Pedro are is an active members of TechGC, an invitation-only community of General Counsels of high-growth technology companies and venture funds. TechGC was founded by 2 Venture GC’s 2015 and now has over 2,500 GC members around the world and over 1,300 senior in-house counsel as part of the DeputyGC Program. Members range from early startups to late stage companies like Lyft, Slack, Pinterest, Dropbox, Cloudflare, etc.) or from venture funds (like Founders Fund, Softbank, First Round, Battery, etc.). Request invitation to join the TechGC Community here
Andy & Pedro speak candidly with Vivek about top-of-mind issues facing the tech General Counsel including...
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What to look for in a mentor
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When to change jobs
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Types of Risk Tolerance and Filtering Risk
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Being a first-time GC
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Keeping Legal integrated with the business
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Reflections on going to law school
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Global data inclusion
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Allowing employees to use the restroom
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And many other topics...
Andy and Pedro are active members of TechGC, an invitation-only community of General Counsels of high-growth technology companies and venture funds. TechGC was founded by 2 Venture GC’s 2015 and now has over 2,500 GC members around the world and over 1,300 senior in-house counsel as part of the DeputyGC Program. Members range from early startups to late stage companies like Lyft, Slack, Pinterest, Dropbox, Cloudflare, etc.) or from venture funds (like Founders Fund, Softbank, First Round, Battery, etc.).
Request invitation to join the TechGC Community here
Andy and Pedro speak with Andrew, GC, Demandbase about numerous topics affecting operating General Counsels including...
- State of Data Transfer Regulation
- State of the Union
- Young GCs - positioning yourself
- Building a policy team
- Being on the same wave-length with counsel and teams
- Practical guidance from Counsel
- Outside Counsel understanding personal side
- Looking in the mirror and building a team
- Challenges in hiring
- Decentralized workforces
- And much more...
Andy and Pedro are active members of TechGC, an invitation-only community of General Counsels of high-growth technology companies and venture funds. TechGC was founded by 2 Venture GC’s 2015 and now has over 2,300 GC members around the world and over 1,000 senior in-house counsel as part of the DeputyGC Program. Members range from early startups to late stage companies like Lyft, Slack, Pinterest, Dropbox, Cloudflare, etc.) or from venture funds (like Founders Fund, Softbank, First Round, Battery, etc.).
Request invitation to join the TechGC Community here
Adam Markey talks fast, thinks fast and works on fast things. Is he the Corvette of AdTech PMs? Is that a thing? Should it be? Adam is also a gamer and owns a “power glove” featured in the Wizard. Adam was thinking FAST when he was one of the original PMs working on a DSP real-time bidder. And again when he architected one of the first cross-device products. And then again when he led the digital TV product team in building one of the first TV driven DSPs. He also had to think and act fast when the GDPR slammed into AdTech in 2018.
Ruby Zefo is yet another privacy leader who came up through the marketing/ad/brand side of the house. Ruby is also a former litigator which is another common theme we’ve seen from our esteemed guests. Those skills took her in-house at Sun Microsystems and then to a series of roles at Intel running Security and AI legal. She’s now CPO at Uber and one of the things we love is her ability to balance a big job with twitter humor and a sense of not taking life too seriously - critical for living in the grayness/newness of privacy like we do!
Incredible roundtable with three of the leading voices in the adtech privacy space: Julia Shullman (GC/CPO at Triplelift), Noga Rosenthal (GC/CPO at Ampersand) and Farah Zaman (GC at the NAI) It's a cutting edge discussion about ads, the future of privacy and a lot of laughs too!
Yes, EW Scripps sponsors the National Spelling Bee, but it is also a massive media company with wide reach. In his role as CPO Greg leads the strategic privacy efforts for a lot of different constituents including a huge number of TV stations/digital news outlets around the country. We will dig in with Greg on how to manage a program impacting so many companies, people and data sources/privacy policies. And we’ll have some laughs too, Greg's got a great sense of humor and infectious laugh - and he takes his big job on with practicality and levity.
GDPR compliance can often feel like playing the old 80s arcade game Frogger, leaping from one thing to another, trying to avoid the MACK trucks and cars (fines or rule changes). Thankfully people like Odia Kagan are pros and help clients across the road. Odia is a big 80s fan and fits right in on the DPBC!
Debbie Reynolds is the Data Diva. But she’s not all about data. Debbie has done a million things in her career. She’s well traveled. A lot like Carmen Sandiego. Though Debbie is not an international thief on the run like Carmen - she has seen a lot in her career that has spanned so many different avenues. We will travel around the world of privacy, data and tech with her.
Data privacy can feel like a quest. Shoshana Rosenberg has dedicated her career to solving complex data privacy problems within extremely intricate and varied business circumstances - and she founded her own company in 2018 to develop privacy focused technology to protect diversity and inclusion feedback related data.
Michelle Dennedy is on the Mt. Rushmore of data privacy lawyers. She's a GOAT. Michelle was CPO of Sun Microsystems through the Oracle acquisition, McAfee’s first CPO and then CPO of Cisco. DAMN. Seriously. She’s written books, is a parent, advisor and tech driven soul. Her twitter feed: @mdennedy is one of the key follows on privacy Twitter and weaves in humor which we love. We talk tech, privacy and laugh - a LOT. We have been waiting to find the right person for a “Mario” episode and Michelle’s career is as epic and her depth in privacy engineering is like a master plumber.
After 4 and a half thrilling seasons and 41 episodes! We thought it was time to recap where we are, where we’re going and where we’ve been. Some BIG things happened while the show has been going and it’s time to chat 1x1 just Pedro and Andy. Keanu (Pedro’s dog) will appear, maybe event Tupac too. We will discuss the fun we’ve had along the way and what’s in store as we grow!
Shout out to all the folks that helped us get here: Sara Pion, MK Getler, Gonzalo Veloz, Rachel Bentley, Nina Butler and all our data guests and friends!
Knowing and working with Sundeep Kapur is like having a data privacy cheat code. “Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right BABA Select Start” was the code to the classic NES game Contra. It gave you 50 lives. Sundeep is very deep on advertising/marketing privacy issues and sometimes it feels like the browser cookie has 50 lives and a cheat code. The CCPA, new ad identifiers, and shifting regulatory tides are the new focal point as cookies are finally being phased out. We’ll talk about these issues with Sundeep along with many other topics like his rock and roll side hustle (he shreds for us in this ep) working with tech companies, and new tools for engaging with colleagues/clients. BTW Sundeep is the guitarist on the DPBC Intro Song this season!!
Phil Lee is an EU data privacy legend (in real life and in our minds too). Highly technical and practical, Phil is often the ideal outside counsel partner for a tech focused in-house legal team. He navigates an ever-changing field of laws and regulations - like a game of Tetris. He helps his clients twist, flip and shape their “pieces” to fit into a complex scheme. And he does it with calm and confidence, almost like there is the Tetris Tchaikovsky Nutcracker music playing the background of his conversations. And Phil is a deep thinker on privacy. So much so that he often walks along the Thames river, gazing out, dreamily envisioning all the ways in which a company can utilize “legitimate interests” as a basis for processing Personal Data….
The movie and video game “Tron” were both forward thinking, futuristic and creative. This describes our guest Beatrice Botti perfectly. She is always thinking differently and seeing around corners - like she’s driving a light bike or jumping into a video game world. Beatrice has worked as a privacy lawyer in two of the most complex areas of our field: Health and now with Doubleverify, in advertising. She runs a privacy focused movie group at DV and in this ep we discuss why we're here on earth. And she talks smack about Stanley Tucci.
Colin O’Malley is your data privacy co-pilot. A lot like the revolutionary, mind blowing double-up spaceship move in Galaga, a classic 80’s arcade game. When Colin is helping your company it’s like having double the firepower. He is unique in the privacy consulting/DPO space because he has been a company founder, operator, and a product leader. So when you work with Colin, you get real actionable business and product advice aka privacy by design. On top of all that….Colin is an incredible human, dad, gourmand, baseball fan, runner and friend.
Greg Raiten is not afraid of a little risk. When you work in venture tech law, risk is part of the deal. He’s a lot like that little guy in the classic NES game Excitebike, cruising over massive jumps, landing and driving hard to the next. He drove deals as a lawyer with two of the most prestigious tech law firms in the country, Latham and Gunderson. Then he was GC at VC firms 500 startups and FirstMark Capital, seeing many deals, working with founders and companies in growth mode. Greg saw the rise of the importance of data in those deals. Eventually he founded TechGC with good friend Kiran Lingam and the organization has grown into the top notch organizations and practical resources for tech general counsels.
“Space Invaders” is a good game to represent Leigh Freund’s tenure as CEO of the NAI. Defending the advertising space against potential “invasive” regulation was one original goal of self-regulation. But, over the years those goals have shifted and there are new “aliens” to deal with for adtech like shifting identifiers, global laws, fast paced tv-tech and AI. Throughout it all, Leigh has led the NAI and navigated a lot of change. We discuss it all with one of our friends and a thoughtful leader in the adtech space!
Peter Kosmala’s career has covered nearly every aspect of digital media, advertising and data privacy. He helped the IAPP create the certification programs used by its 75,000+ members, led the DAA, served as SVP of Government Relations for the 4As, worked in adtech at CMGI and dataxu and now runs his own consultancy called PRIVAT. And also he’s a massive lover of music, good food, jokes and just an all around good guy to be around. He knows everyone in privacy - literally everyone. He’s kinda like pac-man chomping up bits of information, skills, connections. These all add up to a massive career and incredible relationships.
Today the job of General Counsel at Lyft might seem straightforward like other public company GC roles. But when Kristin Sverchek took the gig it was anything but typical. Ride sharing was not ubiquitous in fact it was questionable, even if it had a bright future. And, Uber had staked a big market position. The legal issues surrounding Lyft were and are novel and complex. And we’re not even talking about the data privacy challenges which are many.
No Kristin isn’t a “maniac” or “animal” or some combination thereof. But, she is a multi-faceted, thoughtful GC who can play many different roles - like the characters of a variety show. Lyft as a company is always presenting new, unique challenges (variety) - Kristin likes it that way.
Dennis Holmes is one of the most tech-savvy privacy policy thinkers. His depth of knowledge regarding the programmatic ads ecosystem is extensive. Dennis is an IAPP Westin Fellow and unlike a lot of privacy pros, he has been tackling privacy head on since he started his career.
Dennis is a lot like a renaissance artist mastering a lot of different issues and skills, like say Donatello? Michelangelo? Raphael or Leonardo?
Bert Kaminski sees into the future. Every position he has held seems to firmly embrace where the technology market is heading. Is he living in the world of the Jetsons? Does he have a sentient robot named Rosie cleaning his home and a flying car? He just might!
Before this episode Ami sent us Chipotle gift cards for use w/ the Chipotle app! So we chomped on burritos and podded!
The Wikipedia entry for Duck Tales says this: “When Donald Duck decides to join the US Navy, he enlists his uncle Scrooge McDuck to look after his nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Although reluctant to do so due to their hyperactivity, along with his continual pursuit of increasing his wealth…”
Ami Rodrigues is hardly Scrooge McDuck. Far from it. In fact, she maintains a pretty positive outlook in the face of big challenges. But we can’t help but equate CCPA/GDPR to hyperactive ducks, right? Ami has tackled both hyperactive laws (and more) as privacy counsel to Coca-Cola and now Chipotle.
If Chris Hart were a care bear, he’d be “friendly bear”. He is affable, thoughtful and kind. Maybe that’s why it's easy for him to move through the complexity of his practice into mentoring and teaching as a law school professor. He’s also a dedicated dad and loves a good laugh. We discuss his leatherbound library, privacy equity, iphones as extensions of our brains, why is Duke Basketball viewed as “Evil” and whether Boston Cream Pie any good.
As a kid David Hale was a competitive swimmer. He could have used a built-in snorkel like the Snorks had, but he had a brighter future out of the water anyway. For over 13 years David ran the privacy, IP and Security legal function at TD Ameritrade through a period of immense growth. He even encountered a young punk named Andy who had an interest in tech and privacy. Luckily for Andy, David mentored him, took him onto his team and helped him grow as a lawyer and business partner.
Aside from being a fantastic mentor, David has been in the privacy game for a long time, he was an IAPP certified pro in the early 2000s before it was so cool. And, one final fun fact: he introduced Andy and Pedro. There’s no DPBC without David!
The Smurfs always outsmarted Gargamel and each smurf had distinct talents that they used to foil his evil plans. Vanessa Wu is a truly multi-talented GC - she’s like the entire smurf village wrapped into one super-smurf lawyer. She is currently GC at Rippling a hypergrowth mode company that is changing the HR/IT software game rapidly. Prior to Rippling Vanessa led legal at LiveRamp. In all of her roles she balances deep tech skills with top notch data privacy acumen. Conversation is...smurftastic.
For years Scott Lashway has defended his clients from the most complex of cyber attacks. Scott also counsels clients on large scale data breaches, policy development and handles complex business and tech litigation. He’s a lot like a massive super robot saving the universe with a magic sword. Voltron brings robot teams together to form one gigantic. Scott runs a team like Voltron, differently than most law firm groups. He has a team approach. You won’t see his entire team on the bill. But they all weigh in on each client’s matters. The core, collective wisdom of the group is powerful. He’s the ultimate team leader.
You might be surprised to learn about the Back to the Future cartoon. Technically 1991, but we’ll let this one slip in because Cillian Kieran is a mega-fan of the franchise. The show existed for one short season and disappeared like Marty hitting 88 mph in the DeLorean. Cillian Kieran is a future looking, thoughtful privacy technician and leader, but understands the needs of customers, lawyers, regulators and his team. He’s an inventive thinker and a repeat founder who isn’t afraid of risk, but balances business fundamentals in every discussion. He’s part Doc Brown, part Marty and zero Biff.
Oh and he rides motorcycles. Fast.
Danger Mouse is often called the world's greatest secret agent—so secret, in fact, that his codename has a codename. His skills are of a wide variety, including the ability to shatter metal with his voice, perform military style push-ups on his index finger, and reach a 7th level of meditation.
Danger Mouse seems fitting for Sonia Zeledon’s cross-functional success and wide reaching career success. It takes incredible depth to move from firms like Skadden/White & Case into the startup world and then to dive into leading corporate compliance at bigger companies like her current role running Ethics, Compliance and Privacy at Hershey’s.
Travis LeBlanc is not a wacky inspector with goofy tools he uses to solve crimes. Travis is a deeply skilled public and private sector litigator - and that job often entails crafting Go Go Gadget arguments out of seemingly thin air, developing creative solutions and detecting innovative angles on problems. Plus he’s dealt with his fair share of investigations, something Inspector Gadget would appreciate.
Justin has lots of superpowers. Yes, he started a privacy focused tech company and is helping it grow rapidly. And yes, he was a litigator and corporate lawyer at a large DC firm. And then he was Acting Under Secretary at the Commerce Department during the Obama administration, negotiating the Privacy Shield on behalf of the US. But, the most critical of his super powers is his ability to create a circle of friends, colleagues and people who just wanna talk shop and learn from each other. While he’s accomplished a lot, in his heart Justin is a guy that wants to connect good people, create useful tech, chat and learn over a meal or drink.
Gary Kibel is AdTech old school. He’s been in the privacy game for decades and has constantly stayed on top of changing tech, challenging regulation and new laws. He does it all with a sense of humor, kindness and warmth that all of this friends and colleagues appreciate. Video Killed the Radio Star is a classic 80s pop song that is a good mirror for Gary’s ability to adjust with changing tech and shifting norms.
Judy Estes has held a variety of roles in the legal leadership at Mastercard. She is a leader of teams with a practical business-minded approach. But, what really sets her apart is the ability to instantly see the bigger picture - her eye is always on the larger, more decisive business goals.
She is also not shy with an opinion, joke or decision (at Andy’s expense). She loves the song “Every Breath You Take”, a song privacy nerds loved to add onto their Twitter posts about their “GDPR Spotify Playlist” in 2018. For Judy though, it’s more about how she balances a busy family life with the rigor of leadership at Mastercard.
For our convo with Heather Federman, we turn to one of the great voices of the 80s, Rod Stewart, and his classic, “Forever Young”. This song has become an American anthem emblematic of the youthful vigorous spirit of the country. There is no more vigorous spirit in the privacy world than Heather. She is a force of nature and is working on some of the most complex issues in data privacy.
When you ask Shane Jacobs what his career goals are, he doesn’t say the normal things we hear so often. Shane’s goal is for the human race to be multi-planetary. Shane wants to see the world change via his work. Data has played an increasingly important role in space suit development. We will discuss biometric data and other data which inform innovation. He may wear a space helmet. Space Oddity is from 1969, but its such a good song we have to cheat here.
PE’s anthem Fight the Power is more of a personal descriptor for our friend Anjali Dahiya. If you are friends with her, you know that she does not shy away from anything and challenges old/antiquated ideas, actions of people/governments that defy sensibility and moral, ethical norms. She is a fighter in all the best ways we need lawyers to be fighting for people. Her career path has now taken her to a place where she can do a lot of good - Facebook Ad Policy.
Nobody puts Data in a corner
We saw the writing on the wall
There's no way we could disguise it secretly, data is everywhere
Data, Just remember
You're the one thing
I can't get enough of
But I've had the time of my life
And I've searched through every open door
Till I found the truth
And I owe it all to you
The GDPR was a watershed moment for global data privacy. Ashley Slavik who made her start in the early days of the GDPR. She moved from the US to the EU and has seen the connections and differences up close and in practice.
In her role as CPO at Veeva, she manages a lot of different aspects of data privacy and globally - a huge challenge. But the key is to face each new obstacle with the right attitude - remember, data is everywhere and privacy can be the time of your life.
We speak with Derek Zolner who leads legal at Centro after a stint at Oracle and many years in private practice. We will discuss the shift from litigation to commercial legal work and on-house counseling. Do litigators make good in-house lawyers and can they learn data and privacy? In this case, YES. We’ll also discuss Chicago as a town for in-house jobs, legal work and pizza. And the band Chicago who are just flat out EPIC and in the pantheon of cheese-80s rock. “Look Away” is how many people also feel about AdTech too.
In Season 2 of DPBC the theme shifts to 80’s music and no better song illustrates Danielle Sheer’s career than Queen’s “Under Pressure”. Time after time, Danielle has undertaken complex, mountainous challenges under intense pressure and come out the other side successfully. Her career defining moment may have been helping Carbonite IPO under massive pressure and scrutiny. Result was a big win and now Danielle has taken on the challenge leading the legal team at Bottomline in the maybe soon-to-be heavily regulated e-payment world.
In Season 2 of DPBC the theme shifted to 80s music and with Sachin, we turn to 2 of the Hip-Hop greats, Eric B. and Rakim and their classic track: “I ain’t no Joke”. With this song, Eric B. and Rakim told the world that they were serious contenders in the new world of hip hop and they went on to have one of the most illustrious music careers ever. Eric B. and Rakim are hip hop royalty. This song is a great choice for our episode with Sachin as he is privacy royalty. He is an ad tech veteran but his experience includes many other areas within privacy. He has quietly built one of the best resumes in privacy and he definitely ain’t no joke.
For nearly 20 years Trevor Hughes has been the CEO of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). Over that time the IAPP has experienced rapid and exponential growth. IAPP makes us all better at our jobs every day. Trevor has become one of a few leading voices in the space and does so with razor sharp insight across all vectors of privacy from health to finance, adtech to AI/ML. And he does it with relative ease in an increasingly complex landscape.
Being a privacy leader/lawyer can feel like wearing sunglasses at night. It can be hard to see where we are going sometimes, can feel like we’re living in a privacy dystopia (see the video for the song).
In Season 2 of DPBC the theme shifts to 80s music and there is no more powerful 80s anthem than Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey. This song brings to life the power we all have inside of us to make change in the world, fight in the face of adversity and drunk dancing at a wedding. It’s a great choice for our Guest Noga Rosenthal who has been one of the lawyers at the center of the advertising technology industry’s self-regulation movement for over 10 years. A privacy expert, data enthusiast, thoughtful lawyer, Noga is at the top of her game.
In Season 2 of DPBC the theme shifts to 80s music. For GC of Segment Mark Kahn, it’s the classic Whitesnake ballad “Here I go Again”. Kahn is known for jumping into complex tech companies again and again - and producing exit worthy companies like What’sApp and now Segment. He was a key contributor to the legal team at Yahoo and other companies along the way. He also helps run a bakery that has done a lot of good during Covid and is an avid bike rider.
Our guests are lawyers from prominent tech law firm Fenwick & West. Evan Bienstock and Jennifer Stanley. Evan is a Startup/Venture Capital and Corporate partner and Jennifer leads Fenwick’s copyright, games industry group, and co-chairs the firm’s digital media and entertainment, consumer technologies and retail industry groups.
We chose the 1987 movie Wall Street because the movie romanticizes deal-making. In reality, Tech companies, financing deals, M&A, IPO are incredibly unromantic. They are often just plain and simple hard work - especially where there are complex data issues at play.
This is a truly special episode as we chat with our really good friend Vivek Narayanadas who leads Privacy, IP and Litigation for Shopify. The 3 of us have had many adventures in work and in life. The 3 Amigos is the PERFECT movie as a theme here. Data Privacy and Culinary Amigos, defending the data subject rights of the villagers of Santa Poco from the evil El Guapo (CCPA?).
We’re joined by Alysa Hutnik who leads privacy and information security at Kelley, Drye & Warren one of the leading law firms in the US on advertising issues. Practice in this area can often feel like wandering a maze of regulatory rules, enforcement actions and nebulous provisions. Luckily Alysa is masterful at weaving through and finding practical solutions for companies big and small. Labyrinth has an incredible performance by David Bowie, so we discuss his music as well and potentially his makeup...
We speak with old friend Jurgen Van Staden a worldly, well-dressed data focused lawyer. Born in South Africa, he left to go to….Tulsa to play college tennis. Then on to law school and into DC and ad policy, Jurgen Van Staden has had a winding, twisting adventure, like saga of the Goonies. After a time at Facebook Jurgen is now at Verizon and is one of the top advertising policy and legal minds in the country. The Goonies is the theme here because the movie represents friendship, loyalty, risk taking and a rag-tag team, all themes of Jurgen’s work and life.
“Would it help if I got out and pushed”? Princess Leia (about Millenium Falcon)
Our guest is Carl Gottlieb the “GDPR Guy” based in the UK and a DPO to US companies. I love the quote above because it makes me think about both GDPR enforcement efforts as well as CCPA/CPRA potential enforcement issues. Regulators are strapped for cash, but need to be thoughtful about regulatory enforcement. Big platforms have infrastructure and money to resist. Often different parties wonder…”would it help if I got out and pushed”?
Pedro and Andy chat with friend Stephanie King at Twitter. They both love Twitter’s principled, belief in free expression and it’s a core value of Stephanie’s too. “Footloose” was the theme because there can be no dance bans! This is the story of a group of people fighting for expression. Stephanie believes in expression deeply and it has guided her on her career path and in her personal life.
Our Dystopian Privacy Future?
With the dystopian backdrop of Bladerunner, our guest is Professor Eric Goldman, an outspoken critic of the CCPA and CPRA. We go deep with Eric on the CCPA process, CPRA development and why these laws may not improve consumer privacy.
“I’m not in the business, I am the business”
Julia populates her social media with images of joy in beach towns around NY. She works from the beach too! What better movie to reflect her life balance than Summer Rental where John Candy and family rent a falling apart beach house and Candy ends up with a massive sunburn and challenges a rich guy to a boat race. Julia is one of the most technical GCs we have come across and we will discuss her approach as a startup lawyer, CPO and business advisor.
“The question isn’t what are we going to do, it’s what aren’t we going to do”?
This is very relevant for the story of Jules Polonetsky and his journey from real estate law, to politics, to AdTech and now to running what may be the foremost data privacy thinktank in the world. He’s done it all and rarely takes a day “off”
Stay on top of the latest and greatest about data protection and privacy with hosts Andy Dale,General Counsel at Alyce and Pedro Pavón,Privacy, Ads, and Data Policy at Facebook, we will meet up with our friends (revenge of the privacy nerds) in the data protection ecosystem to talk 80s, deep dive and ramble along on all things data privacy.