SPEAKER BIOS

Pamela Dixon is the founder and executive director of the World Privacy Forum. Her privacy 

research has been showcased in Congress, at the FTC, in the media, and has formed the basis

for state and US national legislation, particularly in the area of health privacy. Dixon has written 

studies on consumer privacy, data brokers, online privacy, financial privacy, health privacy, and 

privacy self-regulation. Dixon has completed more than 7 months of research in Asia focused on

emerging global privacy issues, including the use of biometrics and strong identity in developing 

nations. Her most recent book, co-authored with Bob Gellman, Online Privacy, was published by

ABC-CLIO book

Ed Mierzwinski is the Consumer Program Director and Senior Fellow at the U.S. Public Interest 

Research Group. He often lectures or testifies before Congress, state legislatures, and agencies

on a wide range of consumer issues, from credit card rates and privacy to product safety and 

airline passenger rights. He has published reports on numerous consumer issues, including 

internet privacy, identity theft, and credit reporting mistakes. 

Claudia Perlich is the chief scientist at Dstillery (previously m6d) and in this role designs, 

develops, analyzes, and optimizes the machine learning that drives digital advertising. Before 

joining m6d in February 2010, Perlich worked in the Predictive Modeling Group at IBM’s T.J.

Watson Research Center, concentrating on data analytics and machine learning for complex

real-world domains and applications. She also teaches in the Stern MBA program at NYU

Stuart Pratt is the President and CEO of the Consumer Data Industry Association, which includ

businesses that provide companies with the data and analytical tools necessary to manage risk. 

Pratt has advised U.S. presidential and gubernatorial task forces on the importance of the free 

flow of information to the U.S. economy and testifies regularly before Congress. 

Ashkan Soltani is an independent researcher and consultant focused on privacy, security, and 

behavioral economics. He has previously served as staff technologist in the Division of Privacy 

and Identity Protection at the Federal Trade Commission and also worked as the primary

technical consultant on the Wall Street Journal’s “What They Know” investigative series.

Rachel Nyswander Thomas is the Executive Director of the Data-Driven Marketing Institute

(DDMI) and Vice President of Government Affairs for the Direct Marketing Association (DMA

Thomas leads DDMI in conducting independent, academic research regarding how the

responsible use of consumer data shapes industry and society, and as Vice President of 

Government Affairs, Thomas represents the data-driven marketing community’s policymakin

interests on Capitol Hill, before key federal agencies and in multi-stakeholder policy forums. 

Joseph Turow is the Robert Lewis Shayon Professor of Communication at the University o

Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication. He has authored nine books, edited five

books, and written more than 150 articles on mass media industries. His most recent book, from 

Yale University Press (early 2012), is The Daily You: How the New Advertising Industry is Defini

Your Identity and Your Worth. Turow’s continuing national surveys of the American public o

issues relating to marketing, new media, and society have received a great deal of attention in 

the popular press as well as in the research community.