Introduction: 0:00
- Introducing Jules Polonetsky, CEO of the Future of Privacy Forum, a Washington D.C. think tank that advances principled data practices.
- Formerly serving as Chief Privacy Officer at AOL and DoubleClick in the era before the proliferation of ad tech.
- Starting his career in politics as an assistant to politicians like now-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and New York State Assembly member.
Getting a start in New York politics: 1:57
- Leaving behind an underwhelming career in real estate law to help a friend run for local office.
- Discovering a passion for affecting change in your community.
- Taking big career risks when you’re young and don’t have commitments like mortgages and childrens’ tuition payments.
- Learning valuable lessons from Chuck Schumer about advocacy and not taking no for an answer.
Running for state assembly seat: 11:46
- Choosing to run for your previous employer’s state assembly seat when it became available.
- Being driven by a desire to help people through issues that affect them on a daily basis.
- Advocating for residents who were being squeezed by funeral home consolidation.
- Moving to the executive branch to advance policy matters and work with consumer protection laws.
Taking on one of the first Chief Privacy Officer roles in the industry at DoubleClick: 16:43
- Joining an organization that was under siege by politicians linking online and offline data.
- Finding yourself cast as a villain despite the fact that you went above and beyond to notify consumers and give them the opportunity to opt out.
- Democratizing web ads in an era before ad tech.
- Complying with politicians whose goals ultimately aligned with his clients’ privacy protection plans.
- Working with brands like Coca-Cola and Disney to make their cases for privacy to prominent senators.
The necessary training to be successful in privacy: 24:28
- Learning from history as new questions arise around topics like cookies.
- Figuring out how to explain to consumers how they benefit from ad tech.
- Recognizing that the best legal and policy minds often end up running strategy and ascending to CEO roles.
- Understanding the underlying economics of the business and distilling key legal and risk points to executives with tight schedules.
Founding the Future of Privacy Forum: 32:02
- Observing that trade groups often work against their own best interests in favor of consensus.
- Watching the privacy space grow from a few lawyers to thousands of experts across the industry.
- Building a space that occupies the middle ground between legislators and industry players.
- Developing industry standards by way of advice to policy makers and analysis to executives.
- Looking back on the think tank’s biggest achievements.
Questioning the death of the Chief Privacy Officer role: 44:42
- Seeing the industry change from a largely unregulated space to a highly regulated global space.
- Shifting power from an individual executive to expansive legal ethics teams.
- Passing on or accepting responsibilities related to AI governance.
Favorite part of your day-to-day work and professional pet peeves: 51:54
- Conducting product reviews and helping clients with hard questions.
- Feeling frustration from waves of redundant legislation instead of expanding upon existing laws.
Book recommendations: 56:41
- The Known Citizen: A History of Privacy in Modern America by Sarah Igo
- Privacy Is Hard and Seven Other Myths by JH Hoepman
- The Equality Machine: Harnessing Digital Technology for a Brighter, More Inclusive Future by Orly Lobel
- The Battle for Your Brain: Defending the Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology by Nita A. Farahany
What you wish you’d known as a young lawyer: 1:00:01
- Seeking out and building relationships with mentors.
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