PARRY AFTAB - THE PRIVACY LAWYER
The Global Leader for Social Innovation Best Practices, Privacy and Digital Risk Management
About Parry Aftab
Others describe Parry Aftab best...
"Smart," "Inspiring," "Charismatic," "Passionate," "Funny," "Refreshing," "Knows Her Stuff," "One-of-a-Kind," "Gets It!," "Worth the Wait," "A Recognized Leader," "Thinks Outside-the-Box" are frequently used to describe Parry Aftab. How will you describe her?
Parry has written several books, including the first cybersafety book written for parents in the world (in 1996). She wrote the first books on cybersafety for China (in Mandarin), Singapore (with the MDA), Spain and the UK. Her US book has been translated into many languages.
She even collaborated with Marvel on a special Spider-Man comic.
Select Books Authored by Parry
Parry Aftab is an American digital privacy and security lawyer who operates globally advising industry, governments and policymakers. She was one of the world's first cyberlawyers, before they were called "cyberlawyers." In the early days of the Web she began to focus on digital best practices, cybersafety and cybercrime prevention and policy, following her years as a Wall Street hostile takeover, M&A and international corporate lawyer.
Over the 22+ years she has been a leader in digital policy, risk management and the children's digital world she has represented and advised a majority of the digital industry leaders and the biggest of the entertainment industry members. She has served on the boards of directors of several entities, including TRUSTe, and on the advisory board of Facebook, Sesame Street Online, MTV, the Ad Council, McAfee, XBox and others. UNESCO and the UN have turned to her for help on child sexual exploitation online and cyberhate.
Parry is an award-winning columnist (The Privacy Lawyer column for Information Week), author of several books on cybersafety for parents around the world and contributor to several books on cyberlaw, life skills and child sexual abuse. (Some appear below.)
She is a recipient of the President's Service Award from the Clinton Whitehouse (awarded jointly with the George Bush Sr.'s Points of Light Foundation). (Parry refused the award personally, accepting it on behalf of her help group instead.) The US Congress honored her work in cybersafety, the FBI presented her with its Director's Award and she received the RCMP's Child Recovery Award with her Canadian husband, Allan McCullough.
When 49 of the 50 US states attorneys general mandated the formation of a task force (ISTTF) to address age-verification and cybersafety issues, Parry was among the 29 members. A few years later, when the US Congress appointed the OSTWG (Online Safety Technology Working Group) to advise the NTIA, FTC and FCC as well as Congress, she was selected as one of the 24 members.
She has been a spokesperson for Disney, McAfee and others over the years, and an advisor to the leading social networks, search engines, children's gaming sites and MMOGs, as well as Verizon, Microsoft and Google. Because her clients often represent the household brands of the children's entertainment and digital industry, she is often called the "Kids Internet Lawyer."
Parry Aftab often is asked to testify before national and international bodies and deliver presentations. This includes US Congress, the FTC, Canadian Parliament, the UK Parliament and House of Lords, the EU, the Council of Europe, the Singapore MDA, UNESCO, the UN and others at home and abroad. ("Home" to Parry is the US, but she splits her time between her NY-metropolitan area residence and homes in New Brunswick and PEI, Canada.)
But, if you are seeking to know the "real Parry," you need to look beyond her consulting and law practices, and look to her charitable work with WiredSafety, Cybersafety India and StopCyberbullying Global. (You can learn more about her inspirations in our In The News section.)
Children are her passion, and protecting them her priority. She has also created special projects for children and teens online, developing digital life skills programs for the Girl Scouts of the USA, the "Life is Not Abuse" digital dating abuse curriculum and MTV Public Affair's AThinLine.org.
Several nations, governmental agencies and law enforcement entities have sought her help in setting policy, identifying legal gaps, addressing cybercrime and creating innovative programs to educate seniors, consumers, women and children online.
Parry Aftab is married to a Canadian, has two adult children and two incredible grandchildren. (They endorsed her, view the testimonial slides below.)
Her CV and bio, in viewable and downloadable formats can be accessed on the Contact Us page. Select testimonials, books and media outlets which have featured Parry Aftab are set out in slide presentations below. More information about Parry and what motivates her and how she got started can also be found in our Parry in the News section. To reach us, use the form available on the Contact Us page.
A video on Parry's speaking topics and audiences