Nuala O’Connor
Nuala O’Connor is the SVP and chief counsel, digital citizenship at Walmart. She oversees the digital citizenship team responsible for providing advice across the company on issues related to privacy, use of data and data governance, use of emerging technologies, cybersecurity, and records management. Before joining Walmart, she served as president and CEO of the Center for Democracy and Technology. In the private sector, Nuala served in a variety of privacy leadership and legal counsel roles at Amazon, GE, and DoubleClick. In the public sector, Nuala served as the first chief privacy officer at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. She also served as deputy director of the Office of Policy and Strategic Planning, and later as chief counsel for technology at the U.S. Department of Commerce. She began her legal career in private practice at Sidley Austin, Venable, and Hudson Cook. Nuala, who is originally from Belfast, holds a B.A. from Princeton University, an M.ED from Harvard University, and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. She lives in the Washington, D.C., area with her partner, Peter Bass, and their six children.