The dream apartment view for any student living in Paris.

Academics

Rebecca Stone G’23 is AUP’s 2023 IAPP Westin Scholar Award Recipient

Home>News>

The American University of Paris is pleased to announce its 2023 IAPP Westin Scholar Award recipient as Rebecca Stone G’23, who recently graduated with an MSc in Human Rights and Data Science (HRDS). Rebecca’s commitment to data protection and privacy, alongside her research exploring the impacts of standardization efforts on privacy in high-impact technologies, the privacy implications of virtual reality, and the privacy concerns surrounding technology use in humanitarian action, made her an ideal candidate to receive this award. AUP’s annual Westin Scholar Award recipient is selected by a faculty committee.

With the growing need for well-qualified privacy and data protection professionals, the annual Westin Scholar Awards were created by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) to support students who are identified as future leaders in these fields. The awards are named for Dr. Alan Westin, a legal scholar and pioneer in privacy and data protection law. Award winners receive a $1,000 cash prize, two years’ membership to the IAPP, three complimentary exams for IAPP certifications (such as the CIPP, CIPM and CIPT) and unlimited access to online training for their selected certification exams.

Rebecca Stone G'23 was also the elected graduate student speaker at AUP's 2023 Commencement Ceremony

“The industry of privacy is fast growing and constantly evolving. We’ve created this award as a way to put the privacy profession at the forefront of students’ minds as they explore potential career opportunities,” said J. Trevor Hughes, IAPP President and CEO. “Congratulations Rebecca. We look forward to seeing the good work you will bring to the field of privacy.”

As well as being an active member of the AUP community, Rebecca provided valuable feedback on the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act and contributed to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) regarding data collection oversight and privacy on human trafficking crises. “I am honored to work in a career where promoting privacy and data protection is necessary and highly valued,” said Rebecca. “It is essential to have comprehensive data collection practices that respect individual privacy and do not put vulnerable communities at risk.”

AUP’s MSc in Human Rights and Data Science combines a rigorous foundation in data science with the legal and philosophical considerations necessary to ensure the ethical implementation of policies and protections related to digital technology. “I was delighted that this honor went to Rebecca,” said Professor Claudia Roda, Director of the HRDS program. “Her excellent work on privacy has already been recognized in the profession. For example, she was invited to present a paper on the application of the new ISO standard on Privacy by Design to a meeting of the ISO/IEC standardization committee on ‘Identity Management and Privacy Technologies.’”