Sam Kaplan serves as Director and Senior Global Policy Counsel at Palo Alto Networks, where he provides legal advice on a diverse range of domestic and international policy initiatives, with a particular focus on global cybersecurity law, critical infrastructure protection, privacy and data security, and public-private capacity building. Prior to joining Palo Alto Networks, Sam was a product policy team lead at Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook), where he was responsible for developing policy on Facebook’s News Feed and News Tab, covering issues like integrity and platform safety, misinformation, algorithmic fairness and transparency, and content moderation.

Before transitioning to the private sector, Sam served as the Assistant Secretary for Cyber, Infrastructure, Risk and Resilience Policy at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where he led DHS policy development in support of department-wide efforts to reduce national risks with a focus on critical infrastructure cybersecurity, federal network security, countering cyber-crime, and improving the security and resilience of the global cyber ecosystem. Sam additionally served as Chief Privacy Officer at DHS where he oversaw the development of Department-wide privacy and data protection policies, evaluated the privacy impact of new technologies, operations and programs, and was a co-lead in the Department’s breach and incident response program.

Prior to joining DHS, Sam served in a number of positions across the Federal Government, to include a number of positions at the U.S. Department of Justice, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Virginia, where he prosecuted gang, violent crime, and drug cases in the Major Crimes and Narcotics Unit. Additionally, Sam was Counselor to a member of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, where he was involved in the Board’s oversight and advisory work on counterterrorism programs conducted pursuant to Executive Order 12333, Presidential Policy Directive 28, and cybersecurity activities conducted under Executive Order 13636.

Sam holds both a Juris Doctor and a Master of Arts in international studies/homeland security from the University of Denver, and is a Certified Information Privacy Professional/U.S. (CIPP/US).

 

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