Elena Elkina -- Privacy and Data Protection

Protecting data from attackers does not answer every question about privacy. Elena Elkina joins Chris and Robert to explain the relationship between privacy, security, and customer data protection, drawing on her legal background and personal experience growing up under surveillance. She describes how different people and organizations understand privacy and why transparency about data use matters alongside technical safeguards. Robert brings a developer’s perspective, and Elena turns the conversation toward the influence engineers have on privacy through product design and requirements. They explore the communication gap between precise technical decisions and the contextual answers privacy teams often give. Elena’s closing advice is straightforward: build relationships with privacy and security colleagues so that protecting people’s information becomes a shared design responsibility.

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Connect with Elena Elkina:
→ Elena Elkina on LinkedIn
→ Women in Security and Privacy

Mentioned in this episode:
→ Women in Security and Privacy
→ Leading Women in Technology
→ 23andMe

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Chapters:
00:00 Privacy and data protection with Elena Elkina
01:57 Elena’s path into privacy
03:48 How personal experience shaped her perspective
05:53 What privacy means to different people
07:26 Business use of data and transparency
11:02 Privacy compared with customer data protection
12:45 A developer’s view of privacy
15:45 How developers influence privacy through design
18:54 Bridging technical and privacy conversations
19:58 Building relationships with privacy and security teams