The Fordham International Law Journal presents

Emergent Global Trends in Data Governance

Friday, March 20, 2026
8:20 a.m. - 8:50 a.m. | check-in
8:50 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. | program

In-Person and on Zoom
Fordham Law School
Costantino Room (Second Floor)
150 West 62nd Street
New York, NY 10023

CLE credits will be available.

About the Program

The Fordham International Law Journal proudly presents its annual symposium, "Emergent Global Trends in Data Governance," a timely, high-impact convening on the future of data privacy, power, and regulation in a rapidly digital world.

Bringing together leading scholars, practitioners, and policymakers, the symposium will explore how global data governance is being reshaped in the age of digital surveillance, cross-border data transfers, and competing international privacy regimes. Expert panels will examine cutting-edge issues, including fintech’s management of sensitive personal data, the challenges of regulating data across borders, and rights-based strategies for harmonizing privacy protections worldwide. 

The symposium will feature a keynote address by Rebecca Kelly Slaughter.

Program Agenda

8:20 - 8:50 AM | Check-In

8:50 - 9:00 AM | Opening Remarks

9:00 - 10:30 AM | Panel 1:  Data Protection in the Age of Digital Surveillance
(1.0 cybersecurity general; 0.5 professional practice CLE pending)

This panel offers an overview of the key data protection issues shaping today’s increasingly surveilled digital landscape. Panelists will discuss how legal and constitutional frameworks influence privacy rights across jurisdictions, touching on topics such as encryption, government access to information, and the importance of safeguarding data integrity. The conversation will also explore the ongoing balance between national security and individual privacy.

Michael Price, Litigation Director, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of the Fourth Amendment Center; former Senior Counsel, Liberty & National Security Program, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law

Carrie DeCell, Senior Staff Attorney & Legislative Advisor, Knight First Amendment Institute

Margaret Hu, Davison M. Douglas Professor of Law, William & Mary Law School

Marc Rotenberg, Founder, Center for AI and Digital Policy; Editor, AI Policy Sourcebook (CAIDP 2025) and AI and Democratic Values (CAIDP 2025); Member, American Law Institute and European Law Institute

Moderator: Michel Paradis, Partner, Steptoe LLP; Lecturer, Columbia Law School; Author, The Light of Battle: Eisenhower, D-Day, and the Birth of the American Superpower (HarperCollins 2024) & Last Mission to Tokyo: The Extraordinary Story of the Doolittle Raisers and Their Final Fight for Justice

10:30 - 10:45 AM | Break

10:45 AM - 12:15 PM | Panel 2: Global Privacy Regimes & Cross-Border Data Transfer (0.5 cybersecurity general; 1.0 professional practice CLE pending)

This panel explores how major privacy frameworks around the world regulate the flow of data across borders and influence today’s interconnected digital world. Panelists will discuss the legal and practical challenges organizations face when managing international data relationships, including the responsibilities placed on companies and institutions operating globally. The conversation will also highlight how privacy laws shape commercial partnerships among vendors, customers, and third- and fourth-party partners, and what effective compliance looks like across multiple jurisdictions.

Pablo Palazzi, Associate Professor, University of San Andres Buenos Aires Argentina; Former Law Clerk to Justice Highton at the Supreme Court of Arg; Partner, Allende & Brea; Former Staffer, Fordham International Law Journal

Peter Swire, J.Z. Liang Chair, Georgia Tech School of Cybersecurity and Privacy; Professor of Law and Ethics, Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business; Research Director, Cross-Border Data Forum

Guilherme Roschke, Counsel for International Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission

Moderator: Professor Tom Norton, Professor, Fordham University School of Law; Executive Director of the Center on Law and Information Policy (CILP) at Fordham

12:15 - 1:45 PM | Lunch & Keynote Address by Rebecca Kelly Slaughter

Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter will examine the growing risks to data privacy arising from the convergence of corporate consolidation and expanding executive authority. The address will explore how concentrated control over vast stores of personal information, combined with pressures on institutional checks and balances, can reshape the landscape of privacy protections. It will also consider the broader implications for democratic accountability, individual autonomy, and the stability of international data governance frameworks in an increasingly interconnected world.

1:45 - 2:00 PM | Break

2:00 - 3:30 PM | Panel 3:  Fintech & Sensitive Personal Information
(1.0 cybersecurity general; 0.5 professional practice CLE pending)

The panel examines why financial information is considered especially sensitive and how rapid fintech innovation can be balanced with robust privacy safeguards. Panelists will discuss emerging technologies, including blockchain, open banking, and AI-driven credit tools, and what they mean for consumer trust and responsible data governance. 

Lisa Zivkovic, Associate, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Donna Redel, Adjunct Professor of Blockchain and Digital Assets, Fordham Law; Co-Founder, Fordham Law Blockchain Symposium

Imran Ahmad, Senior Partner, Canadian Head of Technology and Canadian Co-Head of Cybersecurity and Data Privacy, Norton Rose Fulbright 

Moderator: Anthony Diana, Partner and Co-Head of the Global FinTech and Data Practice, Reed Smith 

3:30 - 3:45 PM | Break

3:45 - 5:15 PM | Panel 4: The Rights Based Model
(0.5 cybersecurity general; 1.0 professional practice CLE pending)

This panel explores the rights-based approach to privacy, highlighting how human rights principles, advocacy, and cross-border legal cooperation can promote greater alignment among global privacy laws. Panelists will consider how shared norms and governance frameworks may help address competing regulatory priorities in an era of geopolitical tension. The discussion will also examine how rights-based principles are implemented within organizations, from workplace communications policies to the management of employee and customer data.

Gabriela Zanfir-Fortuna, Vice President for Global Privacy, Future of Privacy Forum, and former legal officer, European Data Protection Supervisor

Cristy Phillips, Special Counsel, Office of the New York State Attorney General; former General Counsel, Check Technologies; former Assistant U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York; Adjunct Professor, AI and Data Governance in Practice, Fordham Law School

Sylvia Lu, Assistant Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law; Former Faculty Fellow & Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Michigan Law School

Moderator: Professor Olivier Sylvain, Professor, Fordham University School of Law; Senior Policy Research Fellow at Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute 

5:15 - 5:30 PM | Closing Remarks

CLE credit for this program is pending, and subject to change as the program develops, in accordance with the requirements of the New York and New Jersey state CLE boards for a maximum of 6.0 (3.0 cybersecurity general; 3.0 professional practice) transitional and non-transitional professional practice CLE credits.

This program is presented in conjunction with

The symposium has received financial support from the European Commission - Erasmus LS Program, Project ERASMUS-JMO-2025-HEI-TCH-RSCH- 101239744, Jean Monnet Center of Excellence for the Comparative Study of European Union Business Law at Fordham, EU_FORDHAM

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