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Robert Waitman

Director, Data Privacy

Security & Trust Office

Robert Waitman is a Director in Cisco’s Privacy Office, where he specializes in quantifying the business benefits of privacy policy and helping organizations better value and manage their information assets.

Over his 16-year career at Cisco, he has helped many organizations improve their use of network-based applications and delivered over $100 million in improvement opportunities. He also led Cisco’s Wealth Management Practice, helping drive innovative changes at wealth management firms and gaining media attention for his research findings in The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, and American Banker.

Previously, Robert was an Associate Principal at McKinsey & Company, where he focused on strategy, technology, and payment issues facing financial institutions and authored numerous articles in The McKinsey Quarterly.

Robert holds a BSE in Computer Science from Princeton University, an MBA in Finance and MS in Operations Research from Columbia University, and a JD from Harvard Law School, as well as the CIPP/US privacy certification from IAPP.

He lives in New York with his wife and their five teenagers, so he deals with the importance of Privacy every day!

Articles

January 27, 2020

SECURITY

From Privacy to Trust and ROI

As we embark on a new decade, data privacy has become top-of-mind for business executives and consumers worldwide.  Data breaches frequently expose the personal data of millions, and many companies have not done enough to protect themselves from intentional or unintentional misuse. While it is often…

November 20, 2019

SECURITY

Why We Must Get Data Privacy Right

As consumers the world over gear up for the holiday shopping season, and with Black Friday and Cyber Monday soon upon us here in the US, global consumers will be purchasing online more than ever before. In fact, global e-commerce sales are projected to be more than $140 billion over the holidays, up…

May 23, 2019

SECURITY

GDPR One Year On: What Have We Learned?

It’s been an eventful year since the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, became enforceable one short year ago on May 25, 2018. One of the biggest impacts of the GDPR has been the way in which it has altered the conversation about data privacy. Data privacy has become an increasingly g…

January 24, 2019

SECURITY

Data Privacy: A Business Imperative

Data Privacy is having a big year.  The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) became enforceable in May 2018, along with potential fines of up to 4% of gross revenue, and many countries have passed or updated their own privacy laws to align to the GDPR framework.  California passed a new privacy…

February 13, 2018

SECURITY

Why Invest in Data Privacy?

With just three months to go until the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) becomes enforceable on May 25, most global companies are racing to prepare. We all want to avoid the substantial fines (up to four percent of revenue) and other penalties. But the benefits of good data privacy processes…

January 25, 2018

SECURITY

Are Customer Data Privacy Concerns Slowing Down Business?

Today’s savvy customers are paying more attention to the data privacy features of the products and services they buy. They want to know what data is captured, how it is used, where it is stored, how it is transferred, who has access to it, and when it is deleted. They’re also concerned about the ris…

January 18, 2018

SECURITY

Who Is Managing Our Data Assets?

Most organizations have people or teams to optimally manage their valuable corporate assets. Real estate teams manage and optimize the use of space.  IT manages the technology.  Same with inventory, cash and investments, and people resources. Even intangibles like patents and other intellectual prop…

December 6, 2012

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Reinventing Wealth Management with Technology-Enabled Video Services

The wealth management industry continues to face many challenges as it recovers from the financial crises of the past few years. And while financial markets have recovered most of their losses since 2008, investor confidence has not yet returned and volatility remains high. Against this backdrop, in…