Our speakers 2025

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

David Schönwerth is Head of Data Economy at the digital association Bitkom and deals with data policy, data spaces and data technologies at German and European level. This often involves data availability and data use within and between organisations as well as in an international context. His background is in Information Systems (Stuttgart, Hohenheim) and Public Policy (Paris).

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.