Chris Wolf Receives Prestigious IAPP Privacy Vanguard Award

Known as a “dean of the industry,” Chris helped break the path for privacy law as its own discipline when the early days of the Internet and related technologies made clear that existing laws were becoming quickly outdated. He originated and edited the first privacy law treatise published by the Practising Law Institute and has written and lectured widely on the subject of privacy law, including co-editing the PLI book, “A Practical Guide to the Red Flag rules,” testifying before Congress and the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, and serving on the OECD group advising on the OECD Privacy Guidelines. Over the years, Chris has advised and shaped thinking on many leading-edge issues including Internet free speech, Internet hate speech (co-authoring “Viral Hate: Containing its Spread on the Internet”), and the parameters of government access to stored information.

His influence on the global privacy agenda led to co-founding the Future of Privacy Forum, a DC-based think tank dedicated to advancing responsible data use in commercial and consumer privacy. Working alongside the FPF team, Chris helped build FPF into a thriving community of business, academic and advocacy thought leaders that has been influential in shaping public policy on some of the most important and complex privacy issues of the day.

In addition to his work in privacy law and tech policy, Chris dedicates a major portion of his time to charitable and philanthropic causes such as the Anti-Defamation League – where he serves as the National Civil Rights Chair – and Food and Friends, a Washington-based nonprofit that provides home-delivered meals and nutrition counseling for people with life-challenging illnesses.

It gives us great pleasure to extend our warmest congratulations to Chris for this well-deserved honor.

Authored by Julian Flamant.