Dr. Ann Cavoukian

Dr. Ann Cavoukian is recognized as one of the world’s leading privacy experts. She is presently the Executive Director of the Privacy and Big Data Institute at Ryerson University. Appointed as the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, Canada in 1997, Dr. Cavoukian served an unprecedented three terms as Commissioner. There she created Privacy by Design (PbD), a framework that seeks to proactively embed privacy into the design specifications of information technologies, networked infrastructure and business practices, thereby achieving the strongest protection possible. In October 2010, regulators at the International Conference of Data Protection Authorities and Privacy Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution recognizing Privacy by Design as an essential component of fundamental privacy protection. Since then, PbD has been translated into 37 languages. Dr. Cavoukian’s expertise has been recognized in many ways. She was ranked among the top 25 Women of Influence, recognizing her contribution to the Canadian and global economy; named one of the top 100 City Innovators Worldwide by UBM Future Cities for her passionate advocacy of Privacy by Design; chosen as one of the “Power 50” by Canadian Business magazine for her tireless efforts as a privacy champion; awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Guelph; selected for Maclean’s magazine’s “Power List” of the top 50 Canadians; and most recently, picked as one of the top 10 women in data security, compliance, and privacy you should follow on Twitter. In her leadership of the Privacy and Big Data Institute at Ryerson University, Dr. Cavoukian is dedicated to demonstrating that privacy can and must be included, side by side, with other functionalities such as security and business interests. Her mantra of “banish zero-sum” enables multiple interests to be served simultaneously – not one to the exclusion of the others.

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