Nuala O'Connor

Nuala O'Connor is the current President and CEO of the Center for Democracy and Technology. O'Connor is recognized internationally as an expert on 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.

Nuala O'Connor was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In 1985, O'Connor attended Princeton University, where she was a member of the Princeton Tigerlilies, Princeton Triangle Club, and Cloister Inn. O'Connor graduated from Princeton University 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 and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

Civil and digital rights advocacy groups such as the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the ACLU praised O'Connor for protecting American's privacy rights as the first Chief Privacy Officer for the US Department of Homeland Security, a position in which she was responsible for evaluating the department for privacy impacts and "mak[ing] sure 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.

Prior to working at CDT, O'Connor has held numerous positions in the private sector. At Amazon.com, O'Connor worked as the Vice President of Compliance & Customer Trust and Associate General Counsel for Privacy & Data Protection. At General Electric, 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, managing class actions and settlements.

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.