Unsere Speaker 2025

Cecilia Álvarez Rigaudias has been the EMEA Privacy Policy Director at Meta since March 2019. From 2015 to 2019, she served as European Privacy Officer Lead of Pfizer, Vice-Chair of the EFPIA Data Protection Group and Chairwoman of IPPC-Europe. For an interim period, she was also the Legal Lead of the Spanish Pfizer subsidiaries. She formerly worked 18 years in a reputed Spanish law firm, leading the data protection, IT and ecommerce areas of practice as well as the LATAM Data Protection Working Group. 

Cecilia was the Chairwoman of APEP (Spanish Privacy Professional Association) until June 2019 and is currently in charge of its international affairs. She is also the Spanish member of CEDPO (Confederation of European Data Protection Organisations) and member of the Leadership Council of The Sedona Conference (W-6). Cecilia is a member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation in the section of the Law on Technologies of the Information and the Knowledge. She formed part of the Volunteer Group of Privacy Experts of the OECD (Working Party on Information Security and Privacy; WPISP) in charge of the 2013 review of the OECD guidelines governing the protection of privacy and transborder data flows of personal data. 

Cecilia has written numerous publications on data protection and regularly lectures on data protection, IT and e-commerce at different Master’s programmes and seminars.

Darija H. Bräuniger is Head of Digital Policy (DACH) at Zalando SE. She has been with the company since 2019 and is responsible for political advocacy on digital issues — including data-related topics. 

Previously, she advised digital companies and businesses undergoing digital transformation as a political consultant. Before that, she established the "E-Commerce & Digital Policy" department at the German Retail Association (Handelsverband Deutschland).

Born on 29 July 1991 in Moers; single. 

2011: A-levels; voluntary social year in Bogotá (Colombia); 2012: Studied law, philosophy, and Romance languages in Düsseldorf and Bochum; 2016: B.A. (Philosophy/Romance Languages); 

2021: M.A. (Philosophy); 2017: First state examination in law; 2021: Second state examination in law. 

Admitted as a lawyer since 2021. 

Joined the SPD in 2008, holding various positions and roles within the party; 2020: Directly elected member of the Moers city council for the Meerbeck district; Chair of the Social Affairs Committee of the City of Moers.

Foto credits: Photothek Media Lab.

Jeanne Dillschneider is a Member of the German Bundestag since 2025 and the Chairwoman of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen Saarland since 2023. She serves as the group coordinator for her parliamentary group on the Digital Affairs Committee, where she advocates for cybersecurity, data protection and usage, as well as digital civil rights, among other issues. She is also a member of the Defense Committee, where she contributes her expertise in the field of cybersecurity. In addition, Jeanne Dillschneider is a lawyer specializing in data protection and IT-law.

Laura Droschinski is Team Lead Data Protection at migosens GmbH. In this role, she is responsible for the ongoing development of the area as well as the professional and personal growth of her colleagues. The Team supports clients from various industries and company sizes—both in project-based consulting and as appointed external data protection officer. 

As a consultant, she advises organizations on the practical implementation of data protection requirements and regularly conducts workshops and seminars on a wide range of privacy-related topics. 

Before joining migosens, she served as a data protection officer at a financial services company within the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe. 

In addition, she is a co-host of the podcast "Der Datenschutz Talk", where she contributes to weekly news episodes as well as other show formats.

Christian Feller, LL.M. (London) advises clients on all aspects of technology law with a particular focus on data protection and AI-driven projects in the financial sector. He also represents clients before supervisory authorities as well as in proceedings before administrative and civil courts.

As Managing Director, Heiko Gossen is responsible for the consulting fields of data protection and management systems with 20 consultants and auditors within migosens. 

He gained his practical experience in data protection both as an internal data protection officer (Telefónica Deutschland) and data protection auditor (Telefónica O2) and later as an external data protection officer (including Postbank Systems and Amprion). 

Since 2012, he has also audited many companies as a lead auditor on behalf of TÜV Rheinland in the ISO 27001 and ISO 27018 standards, among others. Heiko Gossen also hosts the podcast "Der Datenschutz Talk" and is chairman of the data protection working group at Bitkom e.V.

Dr Des Hogan was appointed as Commissioner for Data Protection and Chairperson of the Irish Data Protection Commission in February 2024. Prior to that he was Assistant Chief State Solicitor in the Office of the Chief State Solicitor in the period 2015-2024. He served as Acting Chief Executive in the Irish Human Rights Commission in 2007 and from 2012 to 2014. He previously worked for the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and for Amnesty International in Australia and its International Secretariat in London. A solicitor by profession, Dr Hogan was awarded a Masters in European Law from University College Dublin and a PhD in Philosophy of Law from Trinity College Dublin.

Meike Kamp was elected as the new Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information in October 2022. Between 2010 and 2019, the lawyer already worked at the authority in the field of data protection, media and freedom of information. From 2005 to 2010, she worked at the Independent Centre for Data Protection in Schleswig-Holstein. Before her election, Meike Kamp worked as a meeting representative in the Federal Council for the Bremen State Representation in Berlin.

Emily Keaney, Deputy Commissioner Regulatory Policy, is responsible for overseeing the ICO’s policy work programme, both domestically and internationally, as well as leadership of legislative reform and the policy profession. Emily also provides ET support and oversight for the work of the ICO’s economic analysis directorate and research function, as well as overseeing the ICO's children's privacy strategy. 

Emily has had a long career in policy, strategy and research in a wide variety of regulatory and public policy contexts, including previous roles at the UK Regulators’ Network, Ofcom and the Institute for Public Policy Research. She has a strong interest in policy, current affairs and history and when not at work can generally be found reading history books and listening to history and current affairs podcasts.

Born on 27 April 1992 in Fürth, Bavaria; Roman Catholic; married; one child. 

Education and Career 

Completed schooling by 2011 at Carl-Platz-Schule in Herzogenaurach and Fridericianum Grammar School in Erlangen, including a year abroad at Tawa College, Wellington, New Zealand. From 2011 to 2016, studied Law at the University of Erlangen as a scholarship holder of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation; First State Examination in Law, awarded the academic title Diplom-Jurist (Univ.). From 2016 to 2017, pursued postgraduate studies in Public Business Law (State and Administration in Europe) at the German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer; awarded Master of Laws (LL.M.). 

Since 2016, lecturer with special responsibilities and research associate at the Chair of Canon Law, Public and Administrative Law at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU). In 2021, awarded a doctorate in law (Dr. jur.) by FAU as a doctoral scholarship holder of the Hanns Seidel Foundation. From 2020 to 2022, legal trainee (Rechtsreferendar) at the Higher Regional Court of Nuremberg, with placements including the Bavarian State Ministry of Finance and Regional Identity; completed Second State Examination in Law, qualified as Assessor jur.. Since August 2022, practising lawyer in Nuremberg. 

Voluntary Work and Political Career 

Since 2005, active in parish work at St. Magdalena, Herzogenaurach. Joined the Young Union in 2009 and the Christian Social Union (CSU) in 2011. From 2011 to 2017, Chairman of the Young Union local chapter in Herzogenaurach and Regional Manager for the Young Union of Middle Franconia. Since 2017, Regional Chairman of the Young Union of Middle Franconia. Member of Herzogenaurach Town Council since 2014. Since 2015, member of the board of the intermunicipal transport association for the Erlangen–Nuremberg–Herzogenaurach urban railway. Since 2018, member of the parish council of St. Magdalena Herzogenaurach. 

Since 2020, leader of the CSU group in Herzogenaurach Town Council and member of the District Council of Erlangen-Höchstadt. Since 2021, Deputy District Chairman of CSU Erlangen-Höchstadt and member of the CSU Executive Committee.

Prof. Dr. Dieter Kugelmann studied at the universities of Mainz and Dijon. After his Pd.D. in European media law he qualified at the university of Mainz. He is author of numerous publications especially on the European fundamental rights, European law, media law, security law and data protection law. In 2008 he became a fully tenured professor at the German Police University with a specialization for public law with a focus on police law including international and European Law. In 2015 he was elected for President of the Authority for the protection of data and the freedom of information of Rhineland-Palatinate and in 2023 he was re-elected for a second term. He is the editor of a commentary on the data protection law of Rhineland-Palatinate and co-editor of a commentary on the GDPR.

Ari Levenfeld is the Global Head of Ads Privacy for Google’s Government Affairs and Public Policy team. He has spent the last 20 years working for technology companies, focusing specifically on privacy, global compliance, data protection and policy. Prior to Google, Ari was Chief Privacy Officer for a number of digital ads and AI companies including Quantcast, Sizmek and Rocket Fuel. Ari holds a BA from the University of California at Santa Cruz, and a Master’s degree from the University of Southern California. He served as an NAI board member for 5 years and co-Chair of IAB Europe’s Transparency and Consent Framework Launch Committee, which he helped to create. Ari has published extensively on public policy related to digital privacy, and holds several ad fraud and abuse prevention technology patents.

Carolin Loy worked as a civil lawyer before joining the Bavarian Data Protection Authority for the non-governmental sector in Germany in 2020. 

There she was responsible for the online data protection department and later headed the international relations department. 

Since 2024, she has been head of the new Digital Economy Department, where she continues to be responsible for online data protection, digital services and legal issues related to artificial intelligence. 

She is also responsible for press and public relations.

As Managing Director of SCOPE Europe, Gabriela oversees developing, implementing, and disseminating self and co-regulatory tools in the digital industry, such as the EU Cloud Code of Conduct, a market standard for GDPR compliance in the cloud sector. Together with SCOPE Europe’s growing team, Gabriela is actively working on fostering trust in the digital economy by advancing effective solutions for today’s regulatory challenges. She is an economist and a certified data protection officer who has studied and worked in different countries and is fluent in Portuguese, French, English, and Spanish.

Olivier Micol is since 2016 the head of the Data protection unit within the Directorate General for Justice and Consumers of the European Commission. His tasks include monitoring the implementation of the EU data protection rules, in particular the GDPR, and the respect of these rules in all EU policies. 

Within the European Commission, he previously followed the bilateral trade relations between the EU and Asia for 12 years, in the Directorate General for Trade and in the EU Delegation in China. He also worked for 7 years in the field of consumer policy, as deputy head of the Consumer strategy unit, and subsequently as head of the Financial services and redress unit in the Directorate General for Justice and Consumers.

Bernd Nauen (55), Dr iur., CEO German Advertising Association (ZAW). Lawyer (Of Counsel Tavanti, Redeker & Partner). Member of the Expert Committee of German Business for Competition Issues, member of the Executive Board of the European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA), member of the Advisory Board of the Data Protection Foundation. He began his professional career in 2000 at ZAW, later becoming head of the legal department of a pharmaceutical and biotechnology company in 2004. In 2008 appointed managing director and in 2020 CEO of ZAW.

Jade Nester is TikTok’s Director of Data Public Policy, Europe. She leads a team of European public policy subject matter experts within the European government relations and public policy team. Before joining TikTok, Jade worked as Director, Consumer Policy, at the GSMA. Before joining the private sector, Jade held a number of roles within the U.S. government, including Senior Advisor for Internet Policy at the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and Director, Internet Public Policy at the State Department. She has worked on international Internet public policy issues, including privacy, cross-border data flows, and cybersecurity, for over 16 years. 

She is an International Association of Privacy Professionals Fellow of Information Privacy and a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). She has a Juris Doctor degree from the Catholic University of America.

Partner at Bird & Bird in Frankfurt, Co-head of its Technology & Communications and Cyber Security Groups and German Data Protection Group; specialised in advising providers and customers in technology transactions and contracts, IT projects, data protection, copyright, cyber security issues and AI matters; particular focus on issues arising from the use of new technologies and business models, such as cloud and data driven projects, IoT, Gen AI and blockchain. Ambition to provide the best and most suitable advice to clients and, in particular, to guide them through their technology transactions, IT and data projects in a pragmatic, solution-driven and innovative manner. Recommended by the leading directories (such as Chambers, JUVE, LEGAL500, MIP and Who's Who Legal) for leading expertise in technology, data protection and copyright law. Together with only four other lawyers, Legal 500 Germany list Fabian as one of the leading data protection lawyers in Germany each year since the beginning of its ranking in 2018. Editor of the Cloud Computing Legal Guidebook ”Niemann/Paul”. Legal studies and training in Bonn, Cologne, Speyer, London and Honolulu, Hawaii.

Dr. Aileen Pasquariello is Data Protection Officer for L'Oréal D-A-CH, responsible for the operation and advancement of the data protection management system. She advises all functional areas of the company on data protection matters, a role that involves navigating complex cross-border data transfers both within the L'Oréal Group and with international vendors. Previously, she supported GDPR transformations in several companies at PwC WPG (2017-2019). Aileen, a CIPP/E, holds an LL.M. and doctorate, having studied in Göttingen, Middlesbrough, and London. She is passionate about making complex privacy topics snackable and follows a practical approach, aiming to drive understanding for compliance and highlight the inherent value of data privacy.

Attorney-at-law Dr Carlo Piltz is a partner of Piltz Legal, a Certified Data Protection Officer (TÜV®) as well as a Certified Information Privacy Professional/Europe (CIPP/E).
He advises national and international clients on issues of data protection, IT security and IT law, both in day-to-day business and in complex cases and contract negotiations. In addition, he is himself active as an external data protection officer. Dr. Carlo Piltz was invited to serve as an expert in the respective parliaments for both the new version of the Federal Data Protection Act and the Berlin State Data Protection Act. He is part of the editorial board of the journal "Privacy in Germany" (PinG) and since the end of 2019 editor-in-chief of the journal "Datenschutz-Berater". In addition, he runs the internet blog "De Lege Data" on data protection law issues and developments (www.delegedata.de) and can point to numerous publications.

After more than 10 years working as a lawyer and then DPO for major international groups such as Orange, Adecco and Hermès, Thomas Pires is now Privacy & AI Solution Expert at EQS.

Frederick Richter has been director of the Data Protection Foundation since it was founded in 2013. Previously, he worked as an advisor for network policy in the German Bundestag and as data protection officer for a trade association. 

Frederick studied law at the University of Hamburg and earned a master‘s degree in IT law at the Universities of Vienna and Hanover. He is a member of the Federal Government's Digital Strategy Germany Advisory Board, of the Advisory Board of the Plattform Privatheit at Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research. 

He is permanent author of the professional journal "Privacy in Germany" (PinG).

Dr. Sachiko Scheuing, author of "How to Use Customer Data," is a renowned expert in privacy and AI governance, with over 20 years of marketing expertise. As a key member of Acxiom (IPG)'s global privacy leadership team, she spearheads public policy and compliance initiatives across EMEA. Sachiko also co-chairs WomenLEAD, championing gender equity of the enterprise. She is an influential voice in European and global data policy, currently serving her fourth term as Co-Chairwoman of the industry trade association FEDMA in Brussels. Her impactful contributions have been recognized with the DataIQ Lifetime Achievement Award and a place among Women in Data®’s 2024 Most Influential Women in Data and Tech.

Foto credits: © Sane Seven

Michael Segall is Associate General Counsel Privacy Engagement at Amazon. In this role, Michael leads regulatory dialogue with the European Commission, Member State Data Protection Authorities and EDPB on a range of privacy topics. He is based in Luxembourg and holds a JD from Harvard Law School.

Dan Thomsen is a partner at Data & More. For over 20 years, he has been supporting organisations in Europe and the United States in managing unstructured data, including data deletion, privacy compliance, GDPR, and NIS2. Over the past six years, he has focused particularly on the classification of privacy-related data.

Focus: IP, IT-Law, Data Privacy Law 

With extensive experience in intellectual property, IT, and data protection law, Brigitta advises financial institutions and tech companies on complex digital transformation projects. Her recent focus has been on open banking, open data, and AI, making her a trusted advisor for innovation-driven legal strategies. Brigitta regularly supports start-ups in developing digital business models and assists tech firms with licensing and R&D-related legal frameworks. She is also a sought-after speaker and author on emerging legal issues at the intersection of technology and finance.

Prof Dr Max von Grafenstein, LL.M. is professor for "Digital Self-Determination" at the Einstein Center Digital Future (University of the Arts) and co-head of the research program "Governance of Data-Driven Innovation and Cybersecurity" at the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG). Max has been a practicing lawyer since 2011 and is founder of the academic spin-off Law & Innovation. In the last 10 years, he has been developing interdisciplinary methods for designing effective data protection by design solutions and providing the corresponding empirical evidence. Funded by the German Ministry of Education, the academic spin-off Law & Innovation is currently developing consent banners and consent agents that enable data subjects to more intuitively decide on the processing of their data.

Michael Will was appointed President of the State Office for Data Protection Supervision on 1 February 2020 for a period of five years. 

After studying law in Würzburg and completing his legal traineeship in Bamberg, he began his professional career as an administrative lawyer in the services of the Free State of Bavaria at the government of Upper Franconia in Bayreuth in 1995. After moving to the Supreme Building Authority in the Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior in 1997 and to the Bavarian State Chancellery in 2000, Michael Will became head of the Department of Public Safety and Order in the Landshut District Office in 2002. At the same time, he was Managing Director of the Zweckverband für Rettungsdienst und Feuerwehralarmierung Landshut. In 2006, he returned to the Supreme Building Authority in the Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior as an advisor in the subject area of road law. 

In 2009, Michael Will was appointed Head of the Data Protection Department at the Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior for Sport and Integration. He also held the office of the official data protection commissioner there and was a member of the Data Protection Commission of the Bavarian State Parliament. 

On behalf of the Bundesrat, he accompanied the entire deliberations of the Council Working Party on Data Protection and Exchange of Information (DAPIX) on the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) from 2012 to 2015 and also performed the tasks of the country observer in the committee pursuant to Art. 93 of the GDPR, which is involved, for example, in the adoption of adequacy decisions by the European Commission.

Kai Zenner is Head of Office and Digital Policy Advisor to MEP Axel Voss (European People’s Party) in the European Parliament. While his main focus lies on AI and data policy, he also advocates for a values-based EU digital strategy and the adherence to Good Governance principles. Zenner is a 'Fellow of Practice' at the TUM Think Tank, a member of the 'OECD.AI Network of Experts' and part of the World Economic Forum’s 'AI Governance Alliance'. In 2023, he was named Best Assistant in the European Parliament and ranked 13th in Politico’s “Power 40” class. In 2024, he received the European AI Award from EAIF, and in 2025, Euronews listed him among the “14 Movers and Shakers to Watch in Tech Policy”.