Personal Hires Josh Galper as Chief Policy Officer and General Counsel

WASHINGTON, July 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Personal (www.personal.com) announced today that Josh Galper has joined the company to serve as Chief Policy Officer and General Counsel.  Personal, which is in private beta, enables individuals to own, control access to and benefit from their data.

"Josh brings unique experience and skills to his role at Personal," said Shane Green, co-founder and CEO of Personal. "There is a rapidly increasing awareness that people, not companies, should own and control their personal data. Josh will help guide the company's leadership in this movement, which includes but goes far beyond privacy."

Galper will oversee the legal, policy and media functions for Personal.  He was previously a litigation partner and co-leader of the Public Strategies and Crisis Management Practice at the global law firm Orrick, Herrington, & Sutcliffe LLP. His practice specialized in integrated legal, regulatory, political, and communications strategies for public and private companies, among others.  In the course of his practice, Galper has counseled and represented numerous early-stage and mature technology and Internet companies on a wide range of legal issues.

"Joining Personal presented the rare opportunity to help build a company that is at the center of a fundamental shift of power to individuals across their digital lives. I'm looking forward to helping lead the company's involvement in this effort with stakeholders across the spectrum," Galper said.

Earlier in his legal career, Galper was an associate in the D.C. office of Sidley Austin LLP, where he focused on privacy and data protection issues in the United States and Europe.  He has a background in politics from work on congressional, state and national campaigns, and advising elected officials. Galper is also an adjunct law professor at the Georgetown University Law Center.  He graduated from Yale College and Yale Law School. 

About Personal

Personal is a web and mobile platform that enables individuals to own, control access to and benefit from their data. The company was founded in 2009 on the guiding principle that people, not companies, should own their data and decide how it is used. Personal's private data vault allows individuals to organize and manage a wide array of personal information, and control who gets access and what they can see. Personal's Owner Data Agreement requires recipients of data to contractually acknowledge the data ownership rights of the individual. The company is also launching Personal Access, a permission-based API program for partners and developers. Requests for invitations to Personal's closed beta can be made at www.personal.com. Follow Personal on Twitter at www.twitter.com/personal.

SOURCE Personal

RELATED LINKS
http://www.personal.com