Talking Tech Regulation, Privacy and Free Speech with “The Decider”, Nicole Wong

Big tech is under scrutiny like never before today, with government regulators grilling—and fining—large tech companies for not adequately protecting consumers’ privacy online. Nicole Wong, a former deputy general counsel at Google who later served as deputy CTO of the United States in the Obama administration, is uniquely positioned to weigh in on the topic. On this episode of Powered by Battery, we chat with Wong, whose team at Google dubbed her “The Decider” for her role evaluating controversial online content and making critical decisions about free expression on the Internet around the world, including on Google’s YouTube site. These days, Wong is consulting with other companies on issues such as privacy, security and big data. In our conversation here, she discusses topics including the impact of GDPR on tech companies in the U.S.; the ethical implications of facial-recognition technology; and Google’s reasons for deciding to do business in China, and later to pull out of the country.