Meet Our Privacy Expert, Girard Kelly
Get to know Girard and his insight on advocating for stronger digital privacy for kids and families.
This month, we're kicking off a series of interviews with Common Sense Media's experts in media, technology, privacy, and everything in between. Our "Meet Our Experts" series will uncover our team's superpowers and showcase the unique human talent behind our mission to improve the media landscape for kids and families. Read on to learn more about Girard Kelly, who works to ensure that parents and educators have the information they need to protect kids' privacy.
Girard Kelly is senior counsel and head of the Privacy Program at Common Sense Media. He is an attorney focused on privacy, security, and legislative policy who thrives on cutting-edge legal issues and has a strong background in public policy, information technology, data ethics, and emerging technologies.
Tell us a little about your personal backstory and what you bring from your experience to your work at Common Sense.
At various points in my career, I've helped draft privacy legislation, brief regulators on privacy research, and had my work featured in numerous publications, including the New York Times, Washington Post, ABC News, and industry magazines, and cited in congressional hearings on privacy. At Common Sense, I found the perfect fit for my technical, legal, and legislative policy background to make a positive impact on privacy for all kids and families.
How do you see Common Sense making an impact with parents, teachers, caregivers, advocates, etc.?
Common Sense is a trusted voice, with ratings and reviews of books, movies, TV shows, and apps that help parents, teachers, and consumers make better decisions about the technology that they use in their daily lives. Our ratings and reviews help folks feel more confident about making an informed decision for themselves and their families. We also help put pressure on the marketplace by recommending the best products to encourage companies to provide safer and higher-quality technology for kids and families.
What do you think is the most inspiring or exciting work your team is doing this year?
The Privacy Program team is working on a very difficult but exciting challenge this year: building a first-of-its-kind artificial intelligence that uses machine learning to automatically read and summarize the privacy practices of the most popular technology products used by kids and families. Privacy policies are often difficult for trained experts and lawyers to understand, let alone parents, consumers, and educators who want to make smart and informed decisions about privacy. Our new artificial intelligence will help our small but mighty team increase the number of products we rate for privacy, which in turn will provide more up-to-date privacy information about the ever-increasing number of technology products used by kids and families.
What's one important issue or trend you see in the area of privacy that you think people are missing?
Privacy is a complicated issue that impacts so many facets of our lives that we don't even realize. Privacy is not just about our data and how it is used, but also who we trust with our data and why. Our privacy is only as strong as the facts we use to make decisions about who to trust. Without facts, we don't have truth. Without truth, we don't have trust. Without facts and trust, there can be no shared reality or democracy.
Just as we regulate our food system to protect the public's health and safety, we also need to protect the privacy of kids and families. Many unhealthy apps and services claim that they have safe privacy practices that respect your privacy and choices, when they clearly do not. I think most folks don't realize that privacy misinformation is a growing problem in the marketplace. It's inherently unfair and deceptive because it misleads parents, educators, and consumers into downloading and purchasing apps for themselves and their kids that they believe to be healthier and more privacy-protecting. Our job at Common Sense is to help parents and caregivers, educators, and consumers easily navigate this complex privacy marketplace.
What's one change that would influence positive change in privacy?
Strong privacy laws are important to influence positive change in privacy, but voting in the marketplace with your data can be even more influential. Just like making healthier choices for yourself and your family in the grocery store, folks can also choose healthier privacy-protecting apps and services. We all enjoy sugary snacks or unhealthy desserts from time to time, but in moderation. The same principle applies to privacy. Using too many unhealthy privacy apps isn't good for anyone. But a commitment to using healthier privacy-protecting products not only helps yourself and your family, but also creates demand for more privacy-protecting products to enter the marketplace and protect more people.
What's something you do in your current role that most people wouldn't know—or that would surprise people?
I think most folks don't know what I do when I tell them I'm a privacy lawyer or the head of privacy at Common Sense. What does that even mean? Folks often assume all privacy lawyers are the same and that I probably work at a high-powered law firm in San Francisco helping protect business clients on all things privacy. It's actually the opposite. I think most folks are surprised to learn that I disagree with most other privacy lawyers who work only to protect companies' profits, because I work at a nonprofit advocating for stronger privacy for all kids and families—and for regulating Big Tech.
What was your favorite show/book/movie when you were a kid, and why? Or what show/book/movie made a lasting impression on you, and why?
My favorite shows, books, and movies were all about Star Trek. Not Star Wars, but Star Trek. I didn't realize it at the time, but Star Trek had a deeply lasting impression on my imagination, personality, career, and perspective on the future. As a child and teenager I was transported to outer space with Star Trek books, TV shows, movies, and games, where I could boldly explore strange new worlds and alien civilizations. The future of Star Trek was unique because it was not dystopian, but utopian. It showed what the future could be if humankind came together to solve global warming, poverty, war, and disease through scientific advancement and technological innovation for the betterment of all. My lasting impression of Star Trek is that humankind can imagine a better future where technology can be used for good and for the advancement of a truly equitable society. I like to think in some small way my work at Common Sense is working toward that future in Star Trek, with the ultimate goal of transforming technology into a social good, rather than simply a way for companies to monetize our data to be used for the exploitation and manipulation of our behavior for profit.
To learn more about Girard's perspective and the Common Sense Privacy Program:
Common Sense Media offers the largest, most trusted library of independent age-based ratings and reviews. Our timely parenting advice supports families as they navigate the challenges and possibilities of raising kids in the digital age.