Future of Privacy Forum

Jules serves as CEO of the Future of Privacy Forum, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that seeks to advance responsible data practices.

FPF’s current projects to advance transparency and control in a business-practical manner focus on online data use, smart grid, mobile data, apps and social media.

Washington Jewish Week

I write about kosher wine for the Washington Jewish Week, NY/NJ Jewish Link and other publications.  I also curate wine education resources at www.kosher-wine.org

Wine Columnist

California Policy Lab

Advisory Board

Israel Tech Policy Institute

Co-Chairman

William & Mary Law School

Adjunct Professor, AI Law and Policy

Washington and Lee University School of Law

Cyber Policy and Privacy Law,”  co-taught by Professor Margaret Hu. The course examined how the expanding role of the internet, big data, e-commerce, social media, and wearable technology has strained the preexisting regulatory and constitutional frameworks that have guided privacy protections under the law

Adjunct Professor

AOL LLC

As AOL’s former Chief Privacy Officer and SVP for Consumer Advocacy, Jules was responsible for ensuring that AOL’s users could trust the company with their information and for educating employees about best practices for advertising, content, and product development.

Jules previously served for four years as Vice President, Integrity Assurance, at America Online Inc. The Integrity Assurance team was responsible for a wide range of consumer protection and risk management issues for AOL’s brands (America Online, AIM, Netscape, Compuserve, Mapquest, MoviePhone, Spinner, WinAmp, ICQ, Advertising.com) including privacy, advertising policy, content and community standards, product standards, parental controls, safety and accessibility for users with disabilities.

Chief Privacy Officer, SVP Consumer Advocacy

DoubleClick

From March 2000 through April 2002, Jules was Chief Privacy Officer and Special Counsel at DoubleClick, advertising and marketing technology company that is the largest internet company in New York City. In that role, he worked with DoubleClick clients to institute and police their privacy policies and managed compliance with data protection requirements for DoubleClick subsidiaries world-wide. In his Special Counsel role, Jules oversaw DoubleClicks government affairs activities and consumer related advertising practices.  He acted as company spokesperson on a wide range of policy issues and regularly spoke at industry and advocacy conference events.

Chief Privacy Officer

New York City Department of Consumer Affairs

From January 1, 1998 until he joined DoubleClick in March 2000, Jules served as the NYC Consumer Affairs Commissioner.  As New York City's chief consumer law enforcement official, Jules was responsible for ensuring that all consumer advertising and sales complied with City, State and Federal consumer protection laws.  He worked with the City Council and advocacy groups to pass legislation which created the nations toughest penalties for the sale of cigarettes to minors and promulgated rules regarding greater consumer disclosure for the funeral industry.

Commissioner

New York State Assembly

Elected as a Democrat to represent Shorefront Brooklyn (Brighton Beach, Coney Island, SeaGate, Bay Ridge) in the New York State Legislature.

State Assembly Member

Jules has been the CEO of the Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) since 2008, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that seeks to advance responsible data practices in the digital age. With over 15 years of experience in this role, Jules has established FPF as a catalyst for privacy leadership and scholarship, supported by more than 180 leading companies and foundations, as well as an advisory board of the country's top privacy academics and advocates.

Jules is an expert in privacy law and policy, with a background in consumer protection, online behavioral advertising, smart grid, mobile data, location, big data, apps, connected cars, wearable tech, and student privacy. Jules has also served as the Chief Privacy Officer at AOL and DoubleClick, the Consumer Affairs Commissioner for New York City, an elected New York State Legislator, a congressional staffer, and an attorney. Jules is passionate about promoting ethical and innovative uses of data that benefit society and respect individual rights.

In his spare time, Jules writes a regular wine column for the Wine and Whiskey Globe and the Washington Jewish Week.

Reminder, avoid flying in and out of Brussels Airport. Fly to Paris or Amsterdam if you can and take the train to Brussels. Two plus hour lines for passport control on almost every one of my last few trips.

Jules Polonetsky

Jules is CEO of the Future of Privacy Forum, a catalyst for privacy leadership and scholarship, advancing principled data practices. FPF is supported by more than 180 leading companies and foundations, as well as an advisory board of comprised of the country’s leading privacy academics and advocates. FPF’s current projects focus on online data use, smart grid, mobile data, location, big data, apps, connected cars, wearable tech and student privacy.

Jules previous roles have included serving as Chief Privacy Officer at AOL and before that at DoubleClick, as Consumer Affairs Commissioner for New York City, as an elected New York State Legislator and as a congressional staffer, and as an attorney.

Jules has served on the boards of a number of privacy and consumer protection organizations including TRUSTe, the International Association of Privacy Professionals, and the Network Advertising Initiative. From 2011-2012, Jules served on the Department of Homeland Security Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee.

CEO @ Future of Privacy Forum | Wine Columnist

Yes, it's Thanksgiving Weekend - so stay off-line, spend time with your family, go shopping, whatever...but for those of you not in the US holiday bubble, or who are ready to tune in for a few minutes...join me....so much has happened, from the Omnibus in Europe, to the various AI US proposals, to getting ready for Jan 1 Texas app store obligations and more.  I have thoughts to share.  And maybe some shopping tips.

Oh and now this: 19 kids/teens bills set forward by House Energy Commerce Committee, here they are: https://lnkd.in/emhrUNCb

Join for a discussion of the top privacy news of the week every Friday at 12 pm ET.

Join me to discuss the top privacy news of the week every Friday at 12 pm ET. 

Lorrie Cranor (Director and Bosch Distinguished Professor of the CyLab Security and Privacy Institute and FORE Systems University Professor at Carnegie Mellon University) will also join to chat about her book, "Privacy, Please!"

Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/eXHDJTdc

Are you ready for January 1? New laws are in effect, and new obligations begin in California, Texas, and beyond. Plus, as always, a discussion of top issues in #privacy and #AI this week. 

Richy Glassberg, CEO of Safeguard Privacy, Jordan Francis, FPF Senior Policy Counsel for U.S. Legislation, and Andy Hepburn, General Counsel, Safeguard Privacy, will join the conversation.

OK, so Jan 1 approaches:  Let's start with California - requirements for Risk Assessments, Risk Assessment Reports and an annual submisison to CalPrivacy.  When are they due?  Have you figured out which of your executive management is going to "attest"?   

Join me at NOON ET, right here for my weekly LinkedIn Live #PrivacyChat, Video will start soon, questions welcome.  And yes, we shall mention the White House EO, the Texas Jan 1 App Store law --(are you ready to toss the kids off of using your app or will you create a kid friendly experience and comply with COPPA, and/or seek verified parental consent?

Cillian Kieran, quite a coup recruiting Daniel Weitzner and Julie Brill ! The best.

3Com Founders Senior Research Scientist at MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL)

I’m delighted to announce that I’ve joined the Board of Directors at Ethyca, a company working to provide tools for data governance and trustworthy AI, advancing the state of the art in privacy engineering.

For a long time, privacy and accountability were seen as policy problems waiting for technology to catch up. What draws me to Ethyca is that they are building the technical layer that makes governance real, inside enterprise data systems themselves.

As AI becomes more pervasive, the central question is whether we can trust that the data they depend on will be used according to legal and ethical standards. Ethyca is tackling that question directly by engineering systems that keep context, consent, and control attached to data wherever it moves.

I’m looking forward to working with Cillian Kieran Julie Brill and the team as they lead on one of the defining technical challenges of this decade: making responsible AI a property of the infrastructure itself.
More info here: https://fid.es/4oKSdoR

This quantum advance really seems like a very big deal. I haven't seen very broad coverage and discussion, atleast not in my orbit.
Can anyone who understands quantum far better than me explain.
Does only AI get attention nowadays?

Scientists achieve breakthrough on quantum signaling | Stanford Report https://lnkd.in/eEzHcewq

Please take note of Brenda Leong's critical point about the effect of fine-tuning on LLM safeguards....

Director, AI Division, ZwillGen

This year's must-have Christmas toy: Teddy Bear meets the Kama Sutra? 

It's funny - but also it's not. LLMs are being incorporated into, well, everything, and most people still really don't understand how they work. In particular, if you take a commercial or Open Source LLM (which - at least for the leading companies - have all been pretty heavily trained with extensive safeguards in place), and you fine-tune it for you own purposes, you have very likely compromised those safeguards. [And let's be honest, they weren't perfect to begin with.] 

That is - you cannot rely on the "safety" and other appropriateness training embedded in the underlying foundation model once you start messing with it. You have to test it yourself, in it's new instantiation!

According to the article, "The PIRG report, published on November 13, found that the bear had poor safeguards for inappropriate content."

Ya think?

Did I mention that ZwillGen designs and provides red teaming and benchmark testing for LLMs? For the love of stuffies everywhere, please call us before you take your LLM-enabled product to market. Even the EU didn't think to specify this on their prohibited systems list. Although maybe safe-words count as a safety feature in a product? 

My job is never dull - please call me and let me help make your job a little less "exciting."

#nokinkshaming #butcomeonpeople

https://lnkd.in/epcmWZVN

FPF is pleased to welcome Matthew R. as our new Vice President, U.S. Policy.

Matthew brings extensive experience in privacy policy, data protection, and AI governance to FPF. He will oversee our U.S. policy work, including legislative and regulatory engagement, research, and initiatives addressing emerging privacy, AI, and technology challenges. 

We are excited to have Matthew join our leadership team at a critical time for data governance, as Congress, federal agencies, and states increase their focus on artificial intelligence, children’s privacy, data security, and comprehensive federal privacy legislation.

Read the full announcement: https://lnkd.in/ewbaqY9F

KOSA, COPPA 2.0, Chatbots, age verification best practice, App Store Accountability......Big bill drop coming - see
https://lnkd.in/empQ-q3B

Delighted to help partner on this event and share the news of this cool event with friends and colleagues.  And of course delighted to have a cameo in the film, alongside some wonderful people.  Check it out.

Advisor. Board Member. Investor. Community entrepreneur. Specialties: Cybersecurity, privacy & AI governance and policy

DC Metro Region privacy folks (and beyond),

HOLD THE DATE: Saturday, January 24, 2026

Shannon (Coe) Harris, Krysten Jenci, and I are excited to begin planning the U.S. theater premiere of the new film Privacy People.

📅 When: Saturday, Jan. 24 at 2:00 PM

📍 Where: Shepherdstown Opera House, Shepherdstown, WV - about an hour’s drive from Dulles Airport. (Some of you know that my husband and I restored this historic little theater. As a longtime privacy professional with a small role in the film, It's a delight to offer up our space for this screening.)

🎥 Post-Film Discussion/Q&A:
 Filmmaker Stephen Bolinger will join us live from London via Zoom, along with additional in-person speakers. 

🤝 Networking & Fun:
 All ticket holders will receive details about pre- and post-film meetups and local activities. Shepherdstown is a charming historic town with excellent restaurants, art galleries, and shops. Perfect for a day trip or overnight stay.  

Thank you to Cisco for helping support this event. Interested in sponsoring or helping with planning? Please reach out.

🎟 Tickets: available now at OperaHouseLive.com or directly at:
 https://lnkd.in/eQqwtyWC

19 bills set forward by House Energy & Commerce Committee, here they are:
https://lnkd.in/emhrUNCb

Will discuss on my weekly Friday PrivacyChat, noon ET, right here.  LinkedIn Live

I agree! 
Time to make sure users have updated realistic advice.

Senior Data Protection Specialist, Mishcon de Reya (also doing lots of FOI). Chair of NADPO. Views all mine and no one else’s. Personal blog at informationrightsandwrongs.com. Send me a marketing DM and I’ll unconnect

Do you

🔐 avoid public WiFi?
🔐 refuse to scan QR codes?
🔐 think that charging your device from public charging points is risky?
🔐 flush cookies in the belief it stops tracking?
🔐 regularly change passwords?

If so, you may be falling for Hacklore - “modern urban legends about digital safety” - according to the signatories of an open letter who include Bob Lord and a large number of other prominent current and former Chief Information Security Officers, security leaders, and practitioners. 

(I’m guilty of regularly flushing cookies, although it’s more from habit than in any belief it does much to prevent tracking.)

https://lnkd.in/egxSZT4B

New book! 
Got kids in your life or just want to learn like one? 
Join me to hear about a new children's book by  Lorrie Cranor.

Always important to hear what Dr. Gabriela Zanfir-Fortuna has to say.

Counsel: Privacy, Competition, AI & Music

I'm teasing my recent The Monopoly Report interview with Dr. Gabriela Zanfir-Fortuna. Full Interview drops on December 3. 

I like to ask my guests about their privacy origin story. In short, what made them chose privacy as a career. 

I don't think you're going to hear a more thoughtful and insightful privacy origin story than the one that Gabriela shared.

I hope you check out the full interview tomorrow.

Glad to see prominent business strategists making the point that smart compliance is often smart business strategy.

That being said, some conflicting/overlapping and vague laws create compliance burden that is not helpful to the consumer or the business.  But valuable points made that sometimes what may seem like a compliance burden - explainability, data minimization, tagging data with sensitivity/purpose etc often is an investment with real business yield.

So why not just leave it to market forces?  Well, start-ups funded to grow madly may not take the time, unless all companies are required.  Some companies with huge leverage over partners may not see it as in their interest, despite market demand....pragmatic baseline common denominators that support ease of business across markets are the sweet spot, and often align with consumer interest as well.

Kudos Charlene Li and Katia Walsh, Ph.D.

I help leaders drive disruptive business transformation and develop winning AI strategies

Most companies treat compliance like a checkbox.

The smartest ones treat it like the competitive advantage that it is.

In today's #LeadingDisruption, I explore why the organizations winning with AI are the ones asking: "How can we turn this regulation into a feature our customers actually want?"

Here’s what my “Winning with AI” coauthor Katia Walsh, Ph.D. and I have  learned:

💬 Explainability is a trust builder that customers demand.
🔒 Privacy by design is what makes your launches move faster.
💿 Data minimization is a speed advantage that lets you outpace competitors.

👉 Read the full newsletter to discover how to reframe every compliance requirement as a competitive advantage.

#AIStrategy #Compliance #ResponsibleAI #AIGovernance

A wonderful tribute to John Henry Naga. John it was always a pleasure to work with you and your team. Congratulations on a highly successful tenure.

MSc @ Northwestern | Data Privacy & Cybersecurity | CIPM, CC, JD | GRC & Digital Transformation

Today, I pay tribute to Commissioner John Henry Naga, who has stood as one of the most consistent voices for data privacy and genuine public service in the Philippines.

From his early years as Deputy Privacy Commissioner to his leadership as Privacy Commissioner and Chairman of the National Privacy Commission, he anchored every decision on a simple principle: the rights and welfare of data subjects must come first. Under his watch, the NPC strengthened enforcement of the Data Privacy Act, holding entities accountable when Filipinos’ personal data is at risk.

He also modernized privacy governance. The rollout of digital platforms for breach reporting and registration, along with the NPC Seal of Registration displayed by organizations across the country and abroad, raised the bar for transparency and compliance. These initiatives did more than improve processes. They helped build public trust and made privacy visible and tangible to ordinary citizens.

Commissioner Naga invested heavily in people. Through privacy awareness campaigns, youth and sectoral programs, and regular engagement with stakeholders, he helped create a more privacy aware and empowered society. He also strengthened the NPC as an institution, earning clean audit opinions and quality management recognition that reflect integrity in the use of public funds and in the treatment of public servants.

On the global stage, he positioned the Philippines as an active and credible partner in the international data protection community, building cooperation with foreign regulators and ensuring that the interests of Filipino data subjects are represented in global conversations on emerging technologies and cross border data flows.

As a former colleague, I saw a leader who treated public office as a trust, not a title. He listened, he decided, and he always returned to the question of how a policy, an investigation, or a program would protect individuals in their everyday lives.

Commissioner John Henry D. Naga leaves the National Privacy Commission with stronger rules, better systems, a more confident workforce, and a more informed public. More importantly, he leaves a living example of what it means to serve with integrity in the digital age.

Maraming salamat, Commissioner. Your legacy will continue in every Filipino who is more aware of their data rights and more confident that their privacy matters.

Mabuhay!

FPF position open in Singapore, please take a look.

Managing Director (APAC), Future of Privacy Forum | LL.M. '22 (Kathryn Aguirre Worth Scholar), UC Berkeley School of Law | Adjunct Professor (AI Law, Policy & Ethics), SMU Yong Pung How School of Law

Alan Kay, the pioneer of the personal computer, is known for the maxim, “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”

Indeed — today, many like to ask what the future will bring for technology, data and AI policymaking across the Asia-Pacific region. But the truth is, while complexity means the truth can never be entirely predicted, complexity provides the opportunity to exercise agency — agency to shape the future as we hope for it to be. 

The Future of Privacy Forum’s Asia-Pacific office (FPF APAC), based in Singapore, is looking for a person with this very gumption, drive and tenacity to shape digital futures across the Asia-Pacific. The person will be joining a trusted and credible organisation and team known — globally and regionally — as a thoughtful and constructive actor in trust- and capacity-building.

I hesitate to overstate our work. After all, change in a place like APAC takes time and many hands to clap. But looking back, I do think we can count among our proudest moments having our research cited in various influential fora, including:

- India’s national AI Governance Guidelines (November 2025)
- World Economic Forum’s report on Advancing Responsible AI Innovation (September 2025)
- The World Bank’s report on Global Trends in AI Governance (February 2025)
- UK House of Lords’ committee report to the UK's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (October 2024)

If you are a driven professional with demonstrated experience and passion in exploring the nuances of privacy and AI in a rapidly evolving policy environment, and are excited to work with global and regional thinkers, shapers and movers on the opportunities and challenges presented by emerging technologies, you might just be the person we’re looking for. 

Do take a look at the JD below and apply - or share it with somebody you know who may be interested in such an opportunity!

https://lnkd.in/gHUz7cPt

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