State Privacy and Data Security

James Maroney was first elected to represent the 14th District (Milford) in 2018. Before being elected to the Senate, from 2012 – 2014 he was a state representative for the 119th District, where he served on the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee. Due to his distinguished service there, he was asked to serve on the Planning Commission for Higher Education and help develop a strategic plan for higher education in Connecticut. During the 2023 legislative session, Senator Maroney lead passage of a bill he authored and introduced. The bill lead and passed important legislation in Connecticut requires assessments ahead of the implementation of AI in specific high-risk incidences. It will create policies and procedures to govern the state’s use of AI, and it will create a task force to work toward creating a Connecticut AI Bill of Rights. The passage of this bill comes after his hard work to pass a 2022 Senate Democratic Caucus priority bill concerning data privacy, which focuses on protecting consumers health and data online.

Khara Boender is the state policy director at the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), where she oversees CCIA’s outreach and advocacy efforts with policymakers at the state and local levels. The state team’s work focuses primarily on policy issues surrounding content moderation, consumer data privacy, and competition. Prior to joining CCIA, Khara served as a policy and research analyst at The Pew Charitable Trusts where her team worked with state legislators to adopt processes to regularly and rigorously evaluate the economic impact of their state tax incentives. She also previously worked at Stateside Associates, a state and local government affairs firm, supporting efforts to identify and track relevant legislation for clients. Khara has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Loyola University Maryland.

Justin Brookman is the director of technology policy for Consumer Reports. Justin is responsible for helping the organization continue its groundbreaking work to shape the digital marketplace in a way that empowers consumers and puts their data privacy and security needs first. This work includes using CR research to identify critical gaps in consumer privacy, data security, and technology law and policy, and to lead CR’s evaluation of the privacy and security of connected products and services. Prior to joining CR, Justin was policy director of the Federal Trade Commission’s office of Technology Research and Investigation. At the FTC, Justin conducted and published original research on consumer protection concerns raised by emerging technologies such as cross-device tracking, smartphone security, and the Internet of Things. He also helped to initiate and investigate enforcement actions against deceptive or unfair practices, including actions against online data brokers and digital tracking companies. He previously served as director of consumer privacy at the Center for Democracy & Technology, a digital rights nonprofit, where he coordinated the organization’s advocacy for stronger protections for personal information in the U.S. and Europe.

Rachel Marmor is a partner in Holland & Knight’s Boston office and a member of the firm’s Data Strategy, Security & Privacy team. Rachel advises clients on navigating the complex web of global privacy laws to develop enterprise privacy programs and risk-adjusted solutions for data-driven products. She partners with clients to achieve successful product launches through early-stage business guidance on implementation of privacy by design  and negotiation of complex data partnerships. Rachel also leverages her prior work as an in-house counsel at a global financial institution to help clients build repeatable, defensible, scalable processes for mitigating information risk and implement best-in-class data management practices. She is a Certified Information Privacy Professional/Europe (CIPP/E) by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).

Kate Lucente’s practice focuses on privacy, cyber security, and data governance. Kate has extensive experience counselling clients in the technology, automotive, communications, AdTech, retail, and financial industries. In her practice, Kate counsels clients on a broad range of privacy compliance and data governance matters, including implementation of privacy and data governance programs, compliance with U.S. and global privacy laws, risk management and data strategy, compliance assessments, incident response and preparedness, privacy litigation risks, cross-border data flows, AI and machine learning, telematics, biometrics and identity verification, consumer health data, and analytics, advertising, and marketing. Kate also represents clients in responding to state and federal privacy enforcement matters and managing privacy litigation risks. Kate is also the co-editor (2011 - present) of the DLA Piper Laws of the World Handbook, which provides an overview of data protection laws in more than 90 jurisdictions worldwide. Kate holds a J.D. from the University of Florida College of Law, a Master of Arts in Privacy and Mass Communications Law from the University of Florida, and a Bachelor of Science in Communications from the University of North Florida.

Brenna Goth is the southwest staff correspondent for Bloomberg Industry Group based in Phoenix. She leads the newsroom’s coverage of Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico, focusing on the impact of public policy, politics, and legal developments on people, companies, and industries. Goth was previously the Phoenix growth and development reporter for The Arizona Republic and the USA Today Network. She holds a degree in journalism and Latin American studies from the University of Arizona.