Episode 22: Heading up a global privacy team - with Emma Redmond of Stripe

Inspiring Legal

Millions of companies use Stripe to accept payments and grow revenue. An operation that big requires some serious privacy procedures. Luckily for Stripe, they have Emma Redmond to take care of just that. And luckily for us (and you!), Emma is a guest on today's episode of Inspiring Legal, where she shares some of her absolute gems of insights.

Thank you for listening to Inspiring Legal.

Full episode transcript:

[00:00 - 00:16] Welcome to Inspiring Legal, the podcast for in-house legal. Get insights, learn from peers, life lessons from some of the most influential GCs.
[00:16 - 00:40] If it's related to in-house legal, we cover it. For more inspiration, go to openli.com slash community. Inspiring Legal is back and we're back today with a special person who knows a thing or two about privacy.
[00:41 - 00:59] When you think about payments and you think about one of the biggest players in the world, well, that is Emma's company. Or it's not her company, but it's the company she works for. I'll let Emma introduce herself in a second, but Emma Redmond is working at Stripe.
[00:59 - 01:19] So Emma, for the listeners out there that don't know you, would you share a little bit about your background and the company you work for? Sure, of course. And first off, thanks so much for having me. It was delighted to take part in a podcast for a company that really values the legal in-house community.
[01:19 - 01:40] So it's an absolute pleasure. A little bit about me. I come from the far west of Ireland called Galway and I have been living and working from Dublin for the past 20 years. In that time, I attended University College Dublin, did my law degree there, did my Masters in Trinity, became a barrister with the Honourable Society of King's Inns.
[01:40 - 02:00] I'm a mom of three, an Irish dancer, adjunct professor at University College Dublin, which I love. And so there's there's a lot going on. And I currently, as you said, work for an amazing company called Stripe. And just a little bit about Stripe. Our mission is to increase the GDP of the Internet.
[02:00 - 02:16] And Stripe is a technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the Internet. Businesses of every size, from new startups to public companies, use our software to accept payments and manage their businesses online.
[02:16 - 02:32] So it's an absolute pleasure to work for Stripe and I'm having a lot of fun. So that's a little bit about me. So for the listeners, they might feel that energy that you have and you do have a lot of energy, which is amazing.
[02:32 - 02:48] And so for you with that background and having built your career as you've done. Could you maybe just share some good advice for the listeners out there who wants to be you in the next two to five years?
[02:49 - 03:09] And what I mean by that is that you're handing up privacy at a company that is really making a difference when it comes to online payments and that whole gateway. And Stripe is a really, really big company. For the people that might not know you, this is a global company that has been growing super fast.
[03:10 - 03:31] And has really, I think, changed the whole way that payments and subscriptions are managed. And it's not a sales pitch or me just going completely bananas, but that has really made a massive change. So with your then background, could you share how you kind of like got to where you are today?
[03:32 - 03:50] And is there any good advice? Yeah, of course. Look, like anything that's worthwhile, it takes time and patience is key. And for many who know me, I'm not always the most patient, but I had to be when it comes to a career like this,
[03:50 - 04:16] because it does organically change over time. Privacy is about principles and applying principles in a very complex space. And this goes for all of the companies I've been at, not just Stripe. And so, you know, as background, I suppose, really, you know, the advice that I have and accumulated as I macheted my way through all of these difficult landscapes is,
[04:16 - 04:39] I suppose, look, I practiced as a barrister for a number of years, and that really set me up neatly for what was coming down the tracks in my career. You know, you learn to be concise, you learn to be to the point, you know, you take the opportunities when they arise. You know, you have to, you know, put yourself out there, be uncomfortable and be OK with that.
[04:40 - 04:59] And that's easier said than done, of course. You know, I did, as I say, started off as a barrister, but I joined the fantastic in-house community. I was assistant general counsel at an ad tech online marketing company. And I thought to myself, you know, I was brave to make that jump, I think at the time, and I maybe didn't realize that.
[05:00 - 05:18] And what it did is expose me to the whole world of third party cookies. And of course, with that came the whole privacy sphere. And, you know, the company I was with was an online marketing company. And I thought to myself, oh, you know, how hard could online advertising be?
[05:19 - 05:36] Surely it can't be that difficult. Of course, you know, unbeknownst to me and completely clueless looking back, that's where I really gained my ground in terms of privacy, because it was ridiculously complex.
[05:36 - 05:53] And that was really about getting comfortable with the uncomfortable. And, you know, the the the enjoyment, I suppose, that I got out of that and the challenge has always that's been one of the common denominators for everywhere I've been.
[05:54 - 06:16] You know, there's always ridiculous challenges there, but I enjoy them. I think the difference for me and the advice I give is, you know, the ability in an in-house world to be so close to your client, to be there right at the time when they need to be making the right decision and applying the right principles is fantastic.
[06:17 - 06:40] And you don't get that in every sphere. And I would take it further in terms of privacy. You have even more of an opportunity to do it because it's it's untested in a way. There aren't there aren't a lot of precedents out there in terms of how to apply. So that makes it even even more enjoyable. And joined obviously LinkedIn and the world of of of recruitment, social media, of course, had an amazing time there.
[06:41 - 07:02] Ancestry after that, in terms of of DNA, of course, and and family history and of course, Stripe. So I suppose what I'm saying is it started with Adtech, social media, DNA, FinTech. You know, was there a plan? No. And but what was there throughout it all was that openness to opportunity.
[07:03 - 07:25] And I think that is really, really key. I did have an idea early on, especially when I was living in a third party cookie world, that there was so much for the ordinary data subject to understand about their data. I thought to myself, you know, once individuals are educated about cookies, for example, they will have so many questions about how it works.
[07:26 - 07:48] And of course, that all played out, as we can see. Right. And so, you know, education, transparency was always one of those things that, you know, pulled me along throughout all of those years. You know, you put the hard graft in for sure. And I think you give yourself that exposure to all those elements of privacy and all the types of privacy that are really important.
[07:49 - 08:06] And, you know, there's a few common denominators and all the companies I've been in, you know, users and data subjects are central to the mission. Transparency is really, really key. And I'm not just talki...