Welcoming Nuala O’Connor, Our New Advisory Council Member

The Society for the Rule of Law welcomes Nuala O’Connor as its new Advisory Council Member.

Nuala is an attorney, public policy professional, seasoned executive, and long-time pioneer of bringing the rule of law to the technology sector, with over two decades of experience spanning the public and private sectors.

Nuala has held multiple key leadership positions in government and the non-profit sector. As the first Chief Privacy Officer of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), she established the first essential frameworks for individual privacy safeguards, in an era of unprecedented technological disruption and national security challenges. Her work has initiated deploying the rule of law for digital governance and the data rights of American citizens. She has served in similar capacities as the Chief Privacy Officer and the Chief Counsel for Technology Administration at the Department of Commerce. In the non-profit sector, as President and CEO of the Center for Democracy and Technology, she helped transform public discourse involving digital civil liberties, laying the foundations for how ethical technology practices can both govern and strengthen free enterprise.

In the private sector, Nuala has championed ethics and the rule of law at the cutting edge of digital governance and innovation. As a Senior Vice President and Chief Counsel at Walmart, she founded and led the company’s Digital Citizenship organization. She guided one of the world’s largest firms through responsibly deploying AI, cybersecurity, biometrics, data privacy, and digital transformation. By leading the planning and execution of ethical use of emerging technologies, programs on digital identity, and data governance, she orchestrated a global strategy that both accelerated innovation and upheld corporate responsibility and human dignity. Nuala was described by senior leadership as the “conscience of the company.” She has excelled in similar leadership roles at Amazon and General Electric, advancing of the rule of law on our country’s technological frontier.

Nuala holds an AB from Princeton, an M.Ed. from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a J.D. from Georgetown Law School.

Nuala frequently provides legal and political commentary in a variety of national media. She has appeared in major broadcast media including NPR, CNN, MSNBC, and the BBC, and has been quoted and interviewed by print and digital outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Politico. Her essays, commentary, and policy analysis have appeared in leading national publications and technology-policy forums, including the Center for Democracy & Technology and other prominent platforms focused on privacy, civil liberties, and digital governance.

To be connected with Nuala, please contact Communications Manager Tony Franquiz at [email protected].

Selected Publications

• Americans Deserve a Law Protecting Their Digital Privacy – Here’s Our Proposal
  December 13, 2018 — Center for Democracy & Technology
• Statement of Nuala O’Connor, President and CEO, Center for Democracy & Technology
  October 10, 2018 — U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation
• Statement of Nuala O’Connor, President and CEO
  February 26, 2019 — U.S. House Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce
• It’s Time for National Privacy Protections July 3, 2018 — Center for Democracy & Technology