Nuala O'Connor is Senior Vice President and Chief Counsel for Digital Citizenship for Walmart. From 2014 to 2019, O’Connor served as the President and CEO of the

Center for Democracy and Technology Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) is a Washington, D.C.–based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that advocates for digital rights and freedom of expression. CDT seeks to promote legislation that enables individuals to use the Internet for ...

(CDT). O'Connor is an expert on digital human rights and civil liberties, technology policy, privacy, and information governance. From 2003–2005, O'Connor served as the first Chief Privacy Officer for the

US Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions involv ...

Early life and education

Nuala O'Connor was born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

in 1968 and grew up in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In 1985, O'Connor attended

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, where she was a member of the Princeton Tigerlilies,

Princeton Triangle Club The Princeton Triangle Club is an American theater troupe at Princeton University, located in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1891, it is one of the oldest collegiate theater troupes in the United States. Triangle premieres an original stud ...

, and

Cloister Inn Cloister Inn is one of the undergraduate eating clubs at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1912, Cloister occupies a neo-Gothic building on Prospect Avenue, between Cap and Gown Club and Charter Club. C ...

. O'Connor graduated from

in 1989 with an AB in American Studies and English. O'Connor has also earned an M.Ed in Administration, Planning & Social Policy from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and a J.D. from

Georgetown University Law Center Georgetown University Law Center is the Law school in the United States, law school of Georgetown University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law ...

Career

Civil and digital rights advocacy groups such as the

Electronic Privacy Information Center The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is an independent nonprofit research center established in 1994 to protect privacy, freedom of expression, and democratic values in the information age. Based in Washington, D.C., their mission i ...

and the

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. ...

praised O'Connor for protecting American's privacy rights as the first Chief Privacy Officer for the

, a position in which she was responsible for evaluating the department for privacy impacts and "mak ngsure that privacy is considered and is codified". In the public sector, O'Connor has experience working on global technology policy for the US Department of Commerce as its Deputy Director of the Office of Policy & Strategic Planning, Chief Privacy Officer, and Chief Counsel for Technology. O'Connor has held numerous positions in the private sector. At

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...

, O'Connor worked as the Vice President of Compliance & Customer Trust and Associate General Counsel for Privacy & Data Protection. At

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

, O'Connor served as the Global Privacy Leader and was responsible for privacy policy and practices. O'Connor has also worked as legal counsel to

DoubleClick DoubleClick Inc. was an American advertisement company that developed and provided Internet ad serving services from 1995 until its acquisition by Google in March 2008. DoubleClick offered technology products and services that were sold primaril ...

, managing class actions and settlements. CDT's former President & CEO, Leslie Harris, said of O'Connor, "Nuala is a brilliant choice to lead CDT. She is a passionate advocate for civil liberties, highly expert about the emerging global challenges and fully committed to CDT's mission. She is a bold leader who will guide CDT into its next chapter. I have had the honor of working with CDT's talented and thoughtful team for almost nine years. I am confident that they will thrive with Nuala at the helm."

Awards and recognition

O'Connor is a recipient of numerous awards, including the 2005 IAPP Vanguard Award, the 2010 Executive Women's Forum's Woman of Influence award, and was named to the Federal 100. O'Connor has also been named "Geek of the Week" by the Minority Media & Telecom Council. She has served on numerous boards and advisory committees, including the Walmart President’s Inclusion Council; WALPAC; the Knight Commission on Trust, Media & Democracy; the Center for Democracy & Technology; the Data Quality Campaign, and the National Cyber Security Alliance/StaySafeOnline.

References

External links

Center for Democracy and Technology
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:OConnor, Nuala Living people Princeton University alumni Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni American women business executives Emigrants from Northern Ireland to the United States Georgetown University Law Center alumni Year of birth missing (living people) United States Department of Homeland Security officials Women government officials 21st-century American women

Early life and education

Career

Awards and recognition

See also

References

External links