Heather is a policy and tech translator, product consultant, and long-term internet strategist guiding the intersection of emerging technologies, culture, governments, and policy.  Areas of focus include digital identity, data governance, data security, net neutrality, privacy, and intermediary liability protections in the digital age.

She helped found the public policy team at CloudFlare, a website performance and security company, served as global and Federal privacy and security issue expert on Google’s public policy team, and started her career working on government technology, privacy, and identity management at the public interest group Center for Democracy and Technology.

She holds a B.A. in Computer Science and Cognitive Science from Wellesley College with concentrations in philosophy and legal studies, and is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US).  She serves on the advisory boards of the Center for Democracy and Technology and the Future of Privacy Forum.  She is also recognized as a Christian Science Monitor Passcode Influencer and a member of The Washington Post’s The Network, a collection of cybersecurity experts.

For more of Heather West’s media hits, click here.