Speaker Biographies

Keynote Speakers

Speakers and Moderators

Viviane Reding

Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, European Commission

Personal details
* Luxembourger
* born April 27, 1951 in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
* 3 children, divorced

Political career
* 2004-2010: Member of the European Commission responsible for Information Society and Media
* 1999-2004: Member of the European Commission responsible for Education, Culture, Youth, Media, Sport
* 1989-1999: Member of the European Parliament
* 1995-1999: Vice-president, Parti Chrétien-Social, Luxembourg
* 1988-1993: National president of Christian-Social Women, Luxembourg
* 1981-1999: City councillor, city of Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
* 1979-1989: Member of the Parliament of Luxembourg

Professional career
* 1978-1999: Journalist, Luxemburger Wort
* 1986-1998: President, Luxembourg Union of Journalists

Other activities
* 2009 Member of the Global Council of the Women's Forum
* 2009 Member of the Board of Les Journées d'Echternach (association sans but lucratif)
* 2007 Member of the Board of Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth (fondation d'utilité publique)

Education
* 1977: Doctor of human sciences, Sorbonne, Paris

Languages
* Luxembourgish: mother tongue
* French: fluent
* German: fluent
* English: fluent
* Italian: good knowledge

Jacob Kohnstamm

Chairman, Article 29 Data Protection Working Party

Jacob Kohnstamm was appointed in 2004 as Chairman of the Dutch Data Protection Authority (College bescherming persoonsgegevens) for a six-year term by Royal Decree. He has been appointed for a new six-year term as from August 2010.
Since February 2010 he also is Chairman of the Article 29 Working Party. All supervisory authorities in the European Union and the European Economic Area take part in this Working Party that plays an important role in the establishment of European policy.

Jacob Kohnstamm had been a member of the Senate of the States General for D66 (Liberal Democrats) since 1999. In addition, he was chairman of a large number of organisations and committees including the Regieraad ICT Politie [Board for Information and Communications Technology for the Police].

He was State Secretary for Internal Affairs between 1994 and 1998 and in particular was responsible for developing the Large Cities Policy.

After completing his studies in law at the University of Amsterdam, J. Kohnstamm worked as a lawyer between 1977 and 1981 and between 1982 and 1986.

In 1981 he was elected a member of the House of Representatives of the States General. He was a spokesman for his political party in the areas of defence, the police and justice. From 1982 to 1986 he held the position of party chairman of the Liberal Democrats.

Between 1986 and 1994 Kohnstamm was again a member of the House of Representatives. In the first session period he was spokesman for internal affairs, the police and the Middle East. In this period he was also Chairman of the standing parliamentary committee National Ombudsman. In the parliamentary period that followed, namely between 1989 and 1994, he was spokesman in the policy areas of public health, the police and the Middle East and also chairman of the standing parliamentary committee for the police.

Michelle O'Neill

Deputy Under Secretary for International Trade, U.S Department of Commerce

Michelle O'Neill has been serving as Deputy Under Secretary for International Trade since November 2005. In this capacity, she oversees the daily operations of the International Trade Administration (ITA), which has an annual budget of $447 million and more than 2,400 employees worldwide.

She works side-by-side with the Under Secretary for International Trade to lead ITA, which participates in the development of U.S. trade policy; identifies and resolves market access and compliance issues; promotes American competitiveness and the strength of U.S. companies in the global economy; administers U.S. trade laws; and undertakes a range of trade promotion and trade advocacy efforts.

Before rejoining the ITA leadership team in 2005, O'Neill served as Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology. Beginning in July 2004, O'Neill served as the chief operating officer of the Technology Administration, which includes the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Over the course of her 20+ year ITA career, O'Neill has served in every major operating unit of the organization, including Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information Technology Industries where she established the U.S. Government's first Office of Electronic Commerce, Commercial Attaché to the U.S. Mission to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris, Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary for International Trade, and Import Specialist in ITA’s Office of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations. O'Neill began her federal government career as a Presidential Management Intern in 1987.

O'Neill received her B.A. degree from Sweet Briar College in 1985, and her M.A. from the LBJ School of Public Affairs in 1987.

Mikael Hagström

President, EMEA and Asia Pacific SAS

As President, Mikael Hagström leads SAS’ Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) and Asia Pacific regions, which account for 56 percent of SAS’ 2009 revenue, or $1.3 billion.

With a more than 20-year track record of leading high-performance organizations, Hagström is responsible for delivering consecutive revenue growth and consistent profit, harnessing the current market potential and preparing the organization for the future. As head of an expanding global team of more than 4,000 professionals in over 50 countries, Hagström is also passionate about providing a culture where innovation can flourish, resulting in market leadership for the organization and its customers.

Hagström holds the elected position of Chair of the American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union (AmCham EU) Executive Council and is a member of the board of directors of the Atlantic Council, a member of the Executive Committee that functions as the United States Council for International Business (USCIB)’s board of directors, and a frequent speaker on the multinational business climate at the World Economic Forum and OECD in particular. He is a board member, head officer or chairman of more than 30 SAS subsidiaries and currently works from SAS world headquarters in Cary, North Carolina.

Hagström began his SAS career in Sweden in 1989. As Country Manager of SAS Norway from 1998 to 2000, he restructured the office and led SAS Norway to record growth, doubling new sales each year for three consecutive years. Over the course of a few years, additional geographies and P&Ls were consistently added to his growing level of direction. In 1993, Hagström moved to the company’s European headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany, where he was promoted to Vice President of Sales for EMEA before assuming his current position in 2007.

Peter Hustinx

Supervisor, European Data Protection Supervisor

Mr. Hustinx (1945) has been European Data Protection Supervisor since January 2004 and was re-appointed by the European Parliament and the Council in January 2009 for a second term of five years. He has been closely involved in the development of data protection legislation from the start, both at national and at international level. Before entering his office, Mr. Hustinx was President of the Dutch Data Protection Authority since 1991. From 1996 until 2000 he was Chairman of the Article 29 Working Party. He received law degrees in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and in Ann Arbor, USA. Since 1986 he has been deputy judge in the Court of Appeal in Amsterdam.

David Smith

Deputy Commissioner and Director of Data Protection, UK ICO

David Smith, as one of two Deputy Commissioners, is primarily responsible for the Data Protection functions of the Information Commissioner’s Office based in Wilmslow, Cheshire. He takes the lead in ensuring that the Commissioner’s policies and Data Protection activities fulfill the strategic ambition of “strengthening public confidence in Data Protection by taking a practical, down-to-earth approach - simplifying and making it easier for the majority of organisations who seek to handle personal information well, and tougher for the minority who do not”.

As well as providing Data Protection leadership across the Information Commissioner’s Office, David has direct responsibility for oversight of its Strategic Liaison Division which develops and manages the ICO’s relations with its key stakeholders. He is a member of both the Commissioner’s Management Board and Executive Team.

The international aspects of David’s work involve him in representing the UK on the Article 29 Working Party of European Supervisory Authorities set up under the Data Protection Directive. He was Chairman of the data protection supervisory body for Europol from October 2006 to October 2009. One other special area of interest is Data Protection in the employment field where David led the project leading to publication of the Commissioner’s Employment Practices Data Protection Code.

Prior to his appointment as Deputy Commissioner in November 2005, David undertook a wide range of responsibilities as an Assistant Commissioner. These covered the setting up of a new Regulatory Action Division, leadership of a Strategic Policy Group and management of groups responsible for ensuring compliance with the Data Protection Act across different areas of the public and private sectors. David first joined what was then the Office of the Data Protection Registrar in 1990. Previously he worked as a District Officer for the public sector trade union NALGO.

Paolo Balboni

Executive Director, European Privacy Association

Paolo Balboni is Executive Director of EPA, and Board Member of the Italian Institute for Privacy. He is Research Associate at Tilburg University (the Netherlands) where he teaches the Master’s course “Liability of Web 2.0 Service Providers”; he is also Assistant to the chair of Internet Law (Diritto di Internet) at the University of Bologna (Italy).

Attorney-at-law in Milan specialized in ICT law and personal data protection. He advises multinational companies mainly on legal issues related to data protection, IT contracts, e-commerce, cloud computing, Web 2.0 Service Providers’ liability, Internet content providers’ liability, e-signatures, digital retention of documents, and general IP matters. Additionally, he advises celebrities on privacy and copyright issues.

He has developed considerable expertise in the following industries: communications, media, entertainment, IT, e-health, fashion, and financial services. Author of the book ‘Trustmarks in E-commerce’; selected legal expert for the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) projects on ‘Cloud Computing Risk Assessment’, ‘Gov-Cloud’, and ‘Common Assurance Metric – Beyond the Cloud’, Paolo Balboni is regularly involved in European Commission Projects related to ICT and data protection, as well as regular speaker at international congresses on the same matters.

Law Degree with distinction from the University of Bologna in 2002 and Ph.D. in comparative ICT law from Tilburg University in 2008, Paolo Balboni is fluent in Italian, English, and Dutch and speaks also German, French and Spanish.

Kostas Rossoglou

Legal Officer, BEUC

Kostas holds the position of legal officer at BEUC. He has been working at BEUC’s Legal Department since February 2009. Kostas provides expertise on Intellectual Property Rights, namely copyright-related issues and consumers’ rights in the digital environment. He also leads the team on consumer collective redress.

Kostas holds a Law degree (University of Thessaloniki, Greece) as well as a master’s degree in European Law (Centre Européen Universitaire, University of Nancy, France). He is qualified lawyer, member of the BAR of Thessalonica, in Greece.

BEUC is a Brussels-based organisation representing forty three reputed independent consumer associations from some thirty European countries (EU, EEA and applicant countries). BEUC investigates EU decisions and developments likely to affect consumers, with a special focus on eight areas identified as priorities by our members: Energy & Sustainability, Financial Services, Food, Health, Safety, Consumer Contracts, Digital and Group Action

Udo Helmbrecht

Executive Director, ENISA (European Network and Information Security Agency)

Dr. Udo Helmbrecht was born in 1955, in Castrop-Rauxel, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
He studied Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science. In 1984 he was awarded a PhD in Theoretical Physics.
He has more than 30 years of professional management experience in the IT sector.

Dr. Helmbrecht’s experience in the field of security has been acquired through various sectors of society, which include: energy industry, insurance, engineering, aviation, defence, and space industry.
He became the President of the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) in 2003.
He has held a variety of lectures on IT Security and Data Processing at universities in Dortmund and Munich.
Udo Helmbrecht took office as Executive Director of the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) in October 2009.

John Vassallo

Vice President for EU Affairs , Microsoft

John Vassallo is Microsoft Vice President EU Affairs as well as Associate General Counsel for the company. He leads Microsoft’s EU Corporate Affairs and Regulatory team. His position was created to help advance the company’s dialogue with the EU policy and regulatory community. Vassallo is also Chair of AmCham EU, the organization in Brussels that represents 140 companies of US parentage at the European Institutions and EU governments

From 1993 to 1997 Vassallo was Ambassador of Malta to the European Union, NATO’s Partnership for Peace and Belgium, where he negotiated the timing of his country’s accession to the EU and NATO Partnership for Peace. He then became General Electric’s Senior Counsel & Director of the European Affairs Office, based in Brussels, a post he held until he joined Microsoft in 2008.

Vassallo attended the University of Malta and graduated with a B.A. degree in English, Italian and Maltese in 1968. He went on to obtain a Doctor of Laws from the same university in 1973. He undertook his postgraduate studies in European Law and Economics at Amsterdam University and in Swedish Law at Stockholm University. After one year at his family law firm in Malta, he joined the Euroc Corporation of Malmo, Sweden, in 1975. During his 15 years at Euroc, he moved from Audit Staff to Group Controller at the Siporex Division. In 1984 he became Manager of Siporex France for a major reconstruction of the company and moved to Vice President and Director Finance and Administration of Dynapac, another division of the group, in 1986.

In 1987 he became President of Dynapac Concrete. From 1991 to 1993 he worked as a lobbyist and Director of Cembureau, the European Cement Association in Brussels.

Sinisha Patkovic

Director BlackBerry Security, Research In Motion

Sinisha’s mandate is ensuring that BlackBerry Product Security offering is relevant to commercial and public sector organizations around the world. Before joining RIM in 2005, Sinisha held a range of business and technology roles in a range of financial services, education, high-tech, and public sector organizations in Canada and Europe, including Conestoga College, IBM, European Commission, and United Nations. Sinisha is currently based in Bougival, France.

Ilias Chantzos

Director EMEA & Asia Pacific Japan, Symantec

Ilias Chantzos is Director of Symantec’s Government Relations and Public Affairs programmes for Europe, Middle East & Africa as well as the Asia Pacific and Japan regions. He is based in Brussels. Chantzos represents Symantec before government bodies, national authorities and international organisations advising on public policy issues with particular regard to IT security and data risk management and availability.

Prior to joining Symantec in 2004, Chantzos worked as legal and policy officer in the Directorate General Information Society of the European Commission focusing on information security policy. He covered the council of Europe Cybercrime Convention and the Framework Decision on Attacks against Information Systems. In addition, he managed a number of EU legislative initiatives relevant to information society and security, including directives on Privacy on Electronic Communications, the Data Retention Directive and the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA). He also represented the European Commission in various international debates and conferences.

Chantzos holds a law degree from the University of Thessaloniki and a Masters degree in Computers and Communication Law from the University of London and is a member of the Athens Bar. He serves as a member of the Executive Board of TechAmerica Europe and appointed member of the Permanent Stakeholders Group of ENISA for a second consecutive term. Chantzos chaired for two consecutive terms the executive policy council of the Business Software Alliance, Europe. He speaks Greek, English, Dutch and German and is a member of the Oostakker Kickboxing Club and the Greek Circle, a thought leadership club in Brussels.

Aurel Ciobanu-Dordea

Director - Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, European Commission

Aurel Ciobanu-Dordea is director for Fundamental rights and EU citizenship with the European Commission since June 2009. He has previously held various responsibilities with the Government of Romania (among others as Government's agent for the European Court of Human Rights and, later, for the European Court of Justice). He has also been teaching at the University of Bucharest Faculty of Law.

David Hoffman

Global Privacy Officer, Director of Security Policy , Intel

David Hoffman is Director of Security Policy and Global Privacy Officer at Intel Corporation, in which capacity he oversees Intel’s privacy compliance activities, legal support for privacy and security and all external privacy and security policy engagements.

Mr. Hoffman was a member of the US Federal Trade Commission’s Online Access and Security Committee. Also, in 2005 Mr. Hoffman was appointed to the Department of Homeland Security’s Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee. Mr. Hoffman also serves on the Center for Strategic and International Studies Cyber Security Commission.

Mr. Hoffman has a JD from The Duke University School of Law, where he was a Member of the Duke Law Journal. Mr. Hoffman also received an AB from Hamilton College.

Jim Halpert

Partner - Communications, E-Commerce and Privacy, DLA Piper

Jim Halpert is a partner in the Communications, E-Commerce and Privacy practice of DLA Piper, and co-chairs the firm’s global data protection practice. He advises clients regarding compliance strategies and transactions relating to transnational, federal and state privacy and security regulations, industry best practices, and self-regulatory initiatives, and defends clients in investigations and privacy litigation.

Mr. Halpert represents and counsels multinational and domestic companies on a broad range of privacy and data management issues, including data security, trans-national data flows, government regulation of marketing practices, health care privacy, privacy issues raised by recording or accessing private communications, privacy regulation of various communications media, employee data, student privacy, due diligence in sales of corporate assets, records management, and government surveillance requests. For example, he counseled clients regarding responses to more than 150 data security breaches since 2005.

Mr. Halpert is deeply involved in the evolution of new law in the technology area, and draws on this experience to provide strategic advice to clients both about where the law is today, and how it is likely to evolve in the future. Representing a coalition of Fortune 500 companies, Mr. Halpert has helped to draft most of the U.S. state data security and security breach notification laws, all of the state spyware laws and many of the recent state spam laws, as well as California’s online privacy law. He has also helped to draft many of the United States’ Internet privacy laws, including the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, the USA Patriot Act of 2001, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and Communications Decency Act. He has litigated major privacy cases in federal courts, including Maine Newspaper Association v. Mills, Parker v. Time Warner Cable, and Los Angeles Police Department v. United Reporting Co. and defended clients in significant FTC and State Attorney General privacy investigations.

Mr. Halpert is named by both Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 as one of the leading data protection lawyers in the U.S. Legal 500 writes that he is "renowned for his 'excellent judgment and awareness of the pressures a modern business faces,'" and "for being 'pro-active and impressively hands-on for such a well-respected lawyer.'" While on leave from the firm, Mr. Halpert served on the Obama-Biden transition's Technology, Innovation and Government Reform (TIGR) and Commerce Department agency review teams, where he worked on broadband, health IT issues, and a review of the US Patent and Trademark Office operations. In 2001-02, he served as the legal advisor for a report of l’Autorita per la Garanzie nelle Communicatione (the Italian Communications Regulator) to the Italian Parliament regarding revisions to Italy’s Internet laws. 


Education: Harvard Law School, J.D. cum laude 1989
Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, D.E.A. 1986
Yale College, B.A. magna cum laude 1985

Languages: French, fluent; Italian, reading knowledge

Steve Kenny

Head of EU Privacy, Ebay Inc

Steve Kenny is the Head of Privacy for all eBay, PayPal and Classifieds (Gumtree, Marktplaats etc.) EU subs. He is also the eBay Europe business licence holder and member of the eBay Europe Board. Steve in fact started his career in Brussels as a trainee with the European Commission in hedonic modelling, before moving into the Swiss i-banking sector focusing on financial engineering. He then got in at the ground floor working for regulators at national (Dutch DPA Privacy Enhancing Technologies Expert) and supra-national (European Commission Article 29 Privacy Enhancing Technologies Expert) levels.

Prior to joining eBay Steve led KPMG's Information Governance and Privacy service line, acquiring / delivering business primarily in the Nordic, UK & Benelux region. Steve also broadened his profile by lecturing to MBA classes for several years at schools such as the Rotterdam School of Management; consulting across Europe to a variety of blue chips such as Shell and Philips Electronics and performing contract research in areas such as the moral philosophy of freedom to software engineering legal requirements into autonomous multiple agent systems (with a fair bit in-between). He has also published a number of refereed pieces in the assurance, legal, strategy and computer science fields.

Joan Antokol

Managing Partner, Park Legal LLC

Joan Antokol is internationally recognized for her work in privacy and data protection. She is the managing partner of Park Legal LLC, a new Indianapolis-based boutique law firm that focuses its practice in the areas of data privacy, information security and records management. Ms. Antokol also owns an online training company and a software company. She assists organizations with many aspects of privacy and security, including healthcare and clinical research, security breaches, international data transfers, enterprise management, and privacy auditing. Joan is a frequent presenter at privacy conferences and has a number of published articles and has written twenty booklets on various aspects of privacy and security. She is the 2011 Chair of the Indiana Security and Privacy Network (InSPN), an organization comprised of about 75 privacy and security professionals, and is also a member of the International Working Group on Data Protection in Telecommunications (IWGDPT), let by Dr. Alexander Dix, the Berlin Data Protection Commissioner.

Prior to launching Park Legal LLC in May 2010, Joan spent three years as a partner at a large Indianapolis law firm and chaired that firm’s privacy and records management practice group. Before that, Joan spent seven years working for Novartis in New Jersey and Switzerland, and served as Vice President and Global Head of Privacy for the Novartis Group companies. Previously, she worked for Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. in New Jersey, and eventually served as the head of product liability litigation for that company, handling litigation matters in the U.S. and other countries. At Roche and Novartis, Joan also handled certain international drug safety and regulatory matters. Joan spent the first four years of her career as a trial attorney at a large New Jersey based law firm (Shanley & Fisher, PC., which is now Drinker Biddle) and simultaneously served as an acting municipal prosecutor in New Jersey for two years.

Joan received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University (Ithaca, NY), and a J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law (Newark, NJ), where she was the Business Editor of the Computer & Technology Law Journal.

Gustav Kalbe

Deputy Head of Unit Trust and Security, European Commission

Dr. Gustav Kalbe is German, born in Belgium. From 1986 to 1990 he studied Applied Physics at the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium. In 1991 he studied Applied Optics at the Imperial College of Science in London. In 1995 he completed his studies and earned a PhD in Physics, Molecular Spectroscopy, at the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium.

In 1995 he began working as a project manager in photonic networks at Belgacom S.A., where he was R&D manager when he left the company.
In 1998 he joined the Directorate General Information Society & Media of the European Commission where he started working as a Project Officer managing research projects of the European Framework Programs for Research. The main areas covered were optical telecommunications, photonics, quantum information processing, ICT security and foundational ICT research.

In 2007 Gustav Kalbe became Head of Sector in the Photonics unit of Directorate General Information Society and Media and in 2009 Deputy Head of Unit in the Trust & Security unit.

Stanley Pignal

Brussels Correspondent, Financial Times

Stanley Pignal is Brussels correspondent for the Financial Times, covering EU justice, home affairs, telecoms and technology questions among others. He joined the bureau in January 2009, having previously worked for the FT as a corporate reporter in London. He previously worked as an investment economist in the private sector.

Laura Linkomies

Editor, Privacy Laws & Business

Laura Linkomies is Editor of the Privacy Laws & Business International and UK Newsletters, which cover legislative and management issues within privacy, data protection and freedom of information. Laura first joined Privacy Laws & Business as Associate Editor for the International Newsletter in 1997, and helped to launch the UK newsletter in 2000. Before joining Privacy Laws & Business, she worked at the UK Information Commissioner's Office as a European Secretariat Officer facilitating co-operation between European Union national Data Protection Commissioners.

With a 15-year track record as freelance journalist, Laura has been published widely in her native Finland, and worked in business and legal editing in the UK. Laura holds a Masters degree in Political Science and Journalism.

Marc Tysebaert

General Advisor on Fundamental Rights, Federal Public Service Justice

After his master Degree in Law at the Free University of Brussels ( Vrije Universiteit Brussel ), Marc Tysebaert entered public service and works since 1982 at the Ministry of Justice in Belgium ( called now Federal public service Justice ). Being Dutch speaking, French, English and German do not pose any problem.

He first worked in immigration law, defending cases before the Council of State, and later started to work in the field of international negotiations. The Schengen border agreement as well discussions on the EU level were on his agenda.
In this position he also had the opportunity to participate at a VIP – programme on invitation of the United States.

In 1992 he was promoted as Director of the Department of Studies at the Office of the Secretary general of the Ministry of Justice. In this position the follow up, in collaboration with lawyers, of the different procedures before the courts in which the Ministry was involved, were his main professional activities.

In 1997 a new promotion as Counsel general obtained and in the beginning of 1998 he took the Direction of services in the Directorate general of legislation
( now Directorate general of legislation and fundamental rights ). Actually being deputy Director general and in charge of the Directorate of Fundamental rights, including data protection legislation, his core business is national and international legislation as well the active participation in diverse seminars for which he wrote some contributions.

He is the Agent of the Belgian Government before the Human Rights Court in Strasburg.

The Council of Europe asked him to accomplish expert missions which took him to Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaidjan.

Mr. Tysebaert is aged 55 and lives with his wife in a small country village in the upper northern part of Belgium, close to the Dutch border. In his scarce free time he frequently goes out for walks to enjoy nature.

Thomas Boué

Manager, Government Affairs, EMEA, Business Software Alliance

Thomas Boué oversees the Business Software Alliance’s public policy activities on security and privacy. He advises BSA members on public policy and legal developments and advocates the views of the ICT sector with both European and national policy makers.

Prior to joining BSA, Boué served as a consultant in Weber Shandwick where he advised clients on a wide range of technology and ICT-related policy issues and represented them before the EU institutions and industry coalitions. In this role, he also served as policy and regulatory adviser for both EU and US telecom operators. Prior to that Boué worked for the EU office of the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry where he was responsible for the lobbying activities towards the EU Institutions in the areas of trade, education, and labor, as well as for the organization and running of seminars on EU affairs for SMEs and business professionals.

Boué holds a Masters of Business Administration from the Europa-Institut (Saarbrücken, Germany), a Certificate of Integrated Legal Studies (trilateral and trilingual degree in French, English, German and European Law, from the Universities of Warwick (UK), Saarland (Germany) and Lille II (France) as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Law from the University of Lille II, France. He is based in BSA’s Brussels office.

Martin Abrams

Executive Director of the Center for Information Policy Leadership, Hunton & Williams LLP

Martin Abrams is Executive Director of the Center for Information Policy Leadership at Hunton & Williams LLP, a path finding global privacy and information security think tank located in Washington, D.C. Mr. Abrams brings nearly thirty years' experience as a policy innovator to the Center where he pursues practical solutions to privacy and security problems. Mr.Abrams originated the multi-layered privacy notices that have been adopted by international data protection commissioners, the European community, leading companies and various government agencies and are expected to be adopted by APEC and OECD. He is a leading theorist on global transfers of data based on accountability, and has led the movement in the US to adopt harms based approaches to privacy.

Mr. Abrams has given privacy talks on five continents and has participated in four APEC privacy workshops. Mr. Abrams assisted the US Federal Trade Commission in designing their workshop on data flows, and the Center has conducted seven dialogue sessions for various US government agencies. Outside of privacy, he developed the methodologies the Federal Reserve System used to bring banks and community organization together to encourage community based economic development and avoid disputes.

Chris Sherwood

Director, Public Policy, Yahoo! Inc

Chris Sherwood joined Yahoo! in 2009 as Director, Public Policy, based in Brussels. He covers all of Yahoo!’s public policy issues in Europe. Chris previously worked for the US Department of Commerce at the US Mission to the EU, where he worked on ICT sector-related issues, including privacy and environmental rules. He has also been a public affairs consultant in Brussels and an IT systems implementation consultant. He has Masters Degrees in German and European Studies. He speaks fluent English, French, German, and Polish. He has UK, French, and US nationalities.

Stavros Lambrinidis

Vice President, European Parliament

Stavros Lambrinidis received his Bachelor of Arts Degree (Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude) in Economics and Political Science/Psychology in 1984 from Amherst College (Amherst, MA). In 1988 he received his Juris Doctor Degree from Yale Law School.

In June 2004, Stavros Lambrinidis was elected Member of the European Parliament (MEP) with the Greek Social Democratic Party (PASOK). Since June 2009 he is Vice-President of the European Parliament and since April 2005 he is also Head of the Greek PASOK Delegation to the Parliament's Political Group of Socialists and Democrats (S&D Group). He is also Member of the Presidium of the Party of European Socialists (PES).

During his first term as an MEP, between 2004 and 2009, Mr. Lambrinidis served as Vice-President of the Parliament's Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) Committee, of which he is still an active member. Today, he is also Member of the Delegation of Relations with the United States and Substitute-Member of the Delegation of Relations with Iran and of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs.

Mr. Lambrinidis has been the Parliament's Rapporteur of the seminal Reports on the Protection of Critical Infrastructures and on Promoting Security and Fundamental Rights in the Internet Age, as well as the Shadow Rapporteur of the S&D Group on amending Directive 2002/58/EC concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector. Recently, he co-signed Written Declaration 10/12, adopted by the European Parliament, which urges the European Commission to publicize negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeit Trade Agreement (ACTA) and safeguard European citizens's fundamental rights.

Between 1994 and 1996 he was Special Advisor to Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and, subsequently, Minister for National Education and current Prime Minister of Greece, George Papandreou.

Between 1988 and 1993 he was an Attorney at WILMER, CUTLER & PICKERING in Washington, D.C., specializing in International Trade, Transactions, and Arbitration.