Data, Privacy, and Podcasting: Andy Dale, GC & CPO, OpenAP

Introduction: 0:00

• Introducing Andy Dale, General Counsel & Chief Privacy Officer at OpenAP and co-host of the Data Protection Breakfast Club podcast.
• Making a podcast about privacy and data protection.

Predicting the importance of data protection and recalibrating your career: 3:24

• Jumping from financial data to privacy as counsel at TD Ameritrade.
• Finding inspiration in privacy to become a general counsel.

Connecting laws and data in the privacy sphere: 6:52

• GDPR overhauling the legal approach to data and advertising.
• Building a network of industry leaders at orgs like Facebook and Appnexus to confront GDPR-related changes.
• Leveraging intellectual capital to retain clients in a changing legal landscape.

Leading privacy diligence during SessionM sale to Mastercard: 11:25

• Being the only internal counsel at Mastercard tackling privacy compliance.
• Finding success in your organization by keeping yourself on top of privacy trends. 
• Sacrificing other aspects of your role as you prepare a difficult merger.

Identifying your interests to determine your next professional move: 15:26

• Wanting to uplift the struggling ad tech sector.
• Looking for roles tangential to the work of the industry group he co-founded.
• Working with marketing tech at SessionM and IP-based marketing at Alyce.
• Returning to ad tech to work in streaming TV.

Working across competitive lines at OpenAP: 19:35

• Improving ad performance, audience, and membership in a joint enterprise (U.S. Joint Industry Committee) that explores alternate ways to advertise in streaming.
• The importance of standards-making bodies to industries and individual careers.
• Putting yourself at the table with key individuals and engaging them in direct discussion.
• Turning fellow GCs into confidants.

Predicting the data and privacy ecosystem ahead: 24:36

• Identifying the ways the people use data and recognizing your own data consumption.
• Relying on multiple outside counsels to advise on specific business niches.

Viewing AI through privacy and data protection: 27:50

• Privacy’s role in developing strong AI models. 
• Training the next generation of experts to develop new models.

Evolving the Chief Privacy Officer role: 30:19

• Building privacy responsibilities into the GC role. 
• Enduring because the nature of privacy is an essential part of any business.

Advice to junior lawyer breaking into privacy: 33:48

• Navigating the extreme difficulty of breaking into privacy with no experience.
• Being persistent and convincing a GC to take a chance on you.
• Finding a project that helps you evolve.

Co-hosting a podcast about privacy and data protection with over 88 episodes published: 38:22

• Meeting co-host Pedro Pavón at conferences, having effortless privacy conversations, and feeling an immediate connection.
• Using COVID lockdowns as a springboard to open their conversations to the larger industry through a podcast with Tech GC.
• Creating community through podcasting.
• Recommendations for starter episodes.

Privacy-related book recommendations: 44:06

• The Privacy Engineer’s Manifesto by Jonathan Fox, Michelle Finneran Dennedy, and Thomas Finnera

Advice to younger lawyers: 45:16

• Knowing when to say “I don’t know.”