Privacy is Not Dead!

We are living in a world in which people unwittingly give up their rights by glossing over the seeming mumbo jumbo found in the Terms and Conditions of the various apps they download to their devices, a world in which technology is advancing so rapidly that it is well beyond the understanding of hapless parents, let alone clueless lawmakers who are incapable of grappling with its nuances.

Caroline McCaffery is an attorney who comes from a tech-savvy family; “we had a smart home with sensors in our driveway when I was a teenager and I was an avid gamer.” In this information-packed #NomadFuturist podcast, McCaffery shares the story of how she married her passion for tech and law to become CEO & Co-Founder of ClearOPS, Inc., a B2B SaaS data privacy and cybersecurity company that simplifies and automates security and compliance-related communications to help prevent data breaches caused by human error.

McCaffery decided to launch ClearOPS after years of experience serving as in-house counsel at various tech startups and owning the painful process of third-party risk assessment and response. McCaffery discusses how frustrating it was to be in constant conflict with her colleagues and vendors. “I became tired of being the Department of No!”

McCaffery engages in an energetic discussion with Phil and Nabeel about the privacy and security challenges faced by consumers and creators of technology.

“It’s surprising the things that people unknowingly agree to when they download an app. The implications of not reading the terms and conditions can be serious. Data can be stolen, repurposed, used for analytics, stored in a data base.”

She is particularly concerned with the ethical challenges posed by AI - the way in which bias can contaminate the products and the process. As a public speaker, Ethics in AI has become a key topic for McCaffery, along with privacy and cybersecurity.

In this COVID moment, she fears that individuals will not have control over how their health data is stored or used and she weighs in on the privacy challenges associated with contact tracing apps.

McCaffery is confident that the world is moving in a direction in which more companies will care about privacy.

“Privacy is not dead. It’s still alive. We just have to work hard to get it.”

McCaffery is a member of the bar in both NY and CA and is a Certified Privacy Professional (CIPP/US). She is also a member of the Chief community, a network dedicated to advancing women in leadership, and The Fourth Floor community, a network dedicated to advancing women on boards and promoting women founders.