The State of Privacy Engineering with Saima Fancy, Jay Averitt, and Mira Olson

In this episode a stellar panel of privacy engineering experts delve into the evolving world of privacy engineering. Saima Fancy, Senior Privacy Specialist for Ontario Health, Jay Averitt, Privacy Product Manager and Engineer at Microsoft, and Mira Olson, Privacy Architect at Doordash, bring diverse perspectives from their extensive experience in the field. They kick off the discussion with personal introductions, shedding light on their roles and contributions to privacy engineering.

Jay helps tackle the fundamental question, "What is a privacy engineer?" sparking a thoughtful debate. Mira builds on this by reflecting on the evolution of the role and emerging trends in privacy engineering. Saima assesses the current maturity of the profession, highlighting areas of progress and those needing improvement.

The panel discusses the challenges and opportunities facing privacy engineers, with each guest offering insights from their unique vantage points. They explore the core responsibilities and misconceptions about the role, the need for specialized skills and certifications, and the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration. Ethical considerations and the balance between user privacy and technological innovation are also dissected.

The discussion dives into the growing privacy concerns surrounding AI and whether we need specialized regulations. Finally, the panel looks towards the future of privacy engineering over the next decade and what they’d change and impact they’d like to see.