Learn more about our speakers

Fred Cate is Vice President for Research, Distinguished Professor, C. Ben Dutton Professor of Law, and Adjunct Professor of Informatics and Computing at Indiana University. He served as the founding director of IU’s Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research, a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Research and Information Assurance Education, from 2003 to 2014, where he is now a senior fellow. He served both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations, and he has testified before Congress on numerous occasions. Professor Cate’s Ted Talk on privacy issues can be viewed here. His university faculty page at Indiana University can be viewed here.


John Nealon is the Managing Director of Data Protection Training & Auditing Services, Ltd, Ireland. He is an expert in the field of data protection with experience with the security, financial, manufacturing, and public sectors, and has particular knowledge of and experience with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union. He has advised the Private Security Authority of Ireland and is the designated Data Protection Officer of a number of private and public organizations including Land Development Agency of the Irish Government. Mr. Nealon was appointed to Ireland’s National Standards SC10 Committee on Cybersecurity and Data Protection in 2021. 


Rebecca Richards is the Civil Liberties and Privacy Officer at the National Security Agency. She holds both a master’s degree in International Trade and Investment Policy and an MBA from George Washington University. Ms. Richard’s federal service began as an international trade specialist at the Department of Commerce where she worked on the U.S.–EU Safe Harbor Accord. She then spent ten years at the Department of Homeland Security where she advanced DHS privacy initiatives by creating the Privacy Threshold Analysis that established guidance on the department’s Privacy Impact Assessments. At the NSA, her main responsibility is to ensure civil liberties and privacy protections are incorporated into the Agency’s operations, technologies, and policies. She is also NSA’s first Transparency Officer, a role that reflects a commitment to meet national security challenges while also aspiring the trust of the American people. She also serves as a liaison between private and public sectors and provides testimony to Congressional hearings. Ms. Richards’ Wikipedia page can be viewed here.


Alan Butler is the Executive Director and President of the Electronic Privacy Information Center located in Washington D.C. Mr. Butler is a graduate of the UCLA School of Law, with an undergraduate degree in Economics from Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to being named the Executive Director of EPIC, Mr. Butler managed EPIC’s litigation team and filed briefs in emerging privacy and civil liberties cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and other appellate courts, including authoring an amicus brief in Riley v. California that was cited in the Supreme Court’s unanimous opinion upholding Fourth Amendment protections for cell phones. He has also authored briefs on national security, open government, workplace privacy, and consumer privacy issues. A more complete bio for Mr. Butler can be found here.