Parry Aftab's Biography and CV

PARRY AFTAB's BIO AND CV:

Parry Aftab was one of the first cyberlawyers in the world. Known for her ability to “think outside of the box,” she quickly became a leader in the emerging field of Internet law and helped establish best practice standards for the Internet industry.

As Managing Director of WiredTrust, a digital risk management consulting firm, she advises industry and policy makers. She is an award-winning columnist for Information Week magazine and has authored several books, including the first book in the world for parents on cybersafety in 1996. She helped design Singapore’s PAGI program, educating parents on cybersafety, in 1999.

More than 23 years ago, she founded the first cybersafety help group, for which she still volunteers as Executive Director. She also founded Stop Cyberbullying Global and the new Cybersafety India trust, a new pro bono and free program designed for India by Indians, addressing cyberabuse, cybersafety, cybercrimes and digital literacy for all stakeholders in India using Indian values and based on Indian needs. She is a popular public speaker.

Parry Aftab completed her 4-year BA degree in 24 months, as Valedictorian and member of Phi Beta Kappa. She received her juris doctorate degree from NYU School of Law. She designed doctoral programs for universities in the United States, and advises the British High Commission on cybersafety for its only school (in Madrid).

Dr. Aftab works closely with law enforcement, the Internet industry, educational institutions and governmental agencies worldwide. She is often called upon to create innovative programs to address digital risks and is known for her practical approaches. She is a legal and risk-management expert in all aspects of Internet best practices, privacy, cybercrime prevention and abuse-management. Her expertise extends to online gambling, cyberterrorism/radicalization, cyberbullying, violence against women, crimes against children and interactive gaming.

Parry Aftab frequently testifies before US Congress, Canadian Parliament and other governmental bodies. She speaks to thousands of young people and families each month, which gives her unique insight into emerging trends and risks. And, since 1994 she has advised the Internet industry on children’s and consumer issues. She was the first to develop and promote the adoption of digital best practices, and advised the first social networks. UNESCO appointed her to head its Innocence in Danger program for North America in 1999, addressing crimes against children online. She also trains Interpol on cyberbullying, sextortion and crimes against children online.

She was identified as “the leading expert in cybercrime in the United States,” by the Boston Herald. Jules Polonetsky, The Future of Privacy Forum Executive Director, said Parry was “part supermom, part Wonder Woman and part Oprah.” And Vinton Cerf, the “father of the Internet” calls Dr. Aftab “the quintessential, responsible Internaut.”

She has received numerous awards, including the Child Abuse Prevention Services Leadership Award and the 1998 President’s Service Award from the Whitehouse. US Congress formally honored her work in cybersafety in 2005. She has received both the FBI Director’s Award and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Child Recovery Award and was one of 29 appointed to the Harvard Berkman Center’s Internet Safety Technology Task Force, identified as a “who’s who of the Internet.”

Parry Aftab chaired McAfee’s consumer advisory board and designed the cybersafety program for the Girl Scouts of the USA for its 2 million Girl Scouts. Parry was appointed to the 24-member Congressionally-mandated NTIA Online Safety Technology Working Group. She was one of the five original members of Facebook’s International Safety Advisory Board (resigning in 2016), sat on Trustee’s Board of Directors for many years, is a member of MTV’s Advisory Board and was selected as the first member of Sesame Street Online advisory board. She was a speaker at the Global Leadership Forum and a dignitary to the World Cultural Festival held in Delhi March 2016 where she was first introduced to India and its amazing children.

Parry is the mother of two adult-children and grandmother of two young boys. She resides in the NY metropolitan area, and maintains a second home with her husband in Canada. Her work is global and she travels extensively.

Parry Aftab, Esq., JD
Professional Curriculum Vitae

parry@aftab.com

Parry Aftab is an international advisor on digital best practices and risk-management, a practicing lawyer specializing in cyberlaw, cybercrime prevention, digital privacy and cybersecurity (licensed to practice in NY and NJ), an author, award-winning columnist, law enforcement trainer, child and women safety advocate and a member of several boards of directors and global advisory boards. She is the recipient of some of the US government’s highest awards, as well as national law enforcement awards from outside the US. She is considered one of the founders of the field of cyberlaw, since 1995. A mother of two, Parry Aftab has two grandsons and is married to Canadian child advocate and safety professional, Allan McCullough.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE:

Worldwide Cybercrime Protection and Prevention/Identity Theft/ Privacy, Data Collection and Security/ Workplace Risk Management and Security/Cybersecurity Policy/Consumer Protection/Digital Advertising and Contests/E-Commerce/ Cyberstalking and Harassment/Child Sexual Exploitation/Cyberbullying/Sexting and Sextortion/Revenge Porn/Online Gaming and Gambling/Children Online/ Online Marketing/Cyber-Workplace Issues/Privacy Training and Coaching/Law Enforcement Training and Strategic Policy Development/Advising on Laws and Legal Policy/Cyberterrorism and Radicalization/Cyberwellenss and Medical Risk-Management

CURRENT POSITIONS

Managing Director, WiredTrust, Inc., a 15-year-old global digital best practices and risk-management consulting firm co-located in the US and Canada. Its clients are among the who’s who of the Internet and name brands. WiredTrust also represents and advises governments and governmental agencies
Founder and Executive Director, WiredSafety.org (the first cybersafety and help group formed in the world, in 1995. WiredSafety remains one of the leading global cybersafety help and support groups and is now a d/b/a for Teach Me Peach, Inc., a US 501c-3)
CEO, Cyberwellness, Inc., a global start-up dedicated to serving digital risk-management and best practice standards’ needs of medical professionals and certifying digital medical and household IoT devices
Founder, StopCyberbullying.org, the first organization in the world dedicated to preventing and addressing cyberbullying
Founder, CyberSafety India, an India NGO in formation to address cybersafety, digital literacy and digital life skills for families in India

SELECT PRIOR POSITIONS

Corporate M&A and Hostile Takeover Associate, Dewey, Ballantine, Bushby, Palmer & Wood (predecessor to Dewey LeBeouf) 1984-1988
General Counsel, Herman’s Sporting Goods, Inc. 1988-1996
Aftab & Savitt, a boutique law firm specializing in digital innovation and risk-management. Offices in NY, NJ and Moscow, Russia 1989-2000
Founder and Chair, McAfee’s Consumer Advisory Board 2009-2010
Spokesperson, Disney 1999 - 2004

HIGHER EDUCATION

New York University School of Law, Juris Doctorate Degree 1984
City University of New York, Hunter College BA Double Major Economics and Thomas Hunter Honors Program, 1981 Valedictorian and Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Nu Chapter (earned a 4-year degree in under two years) 1981, Commencement Speaker
Parry Aftab attended both university and law school as a mother with two young children.

SELECT HONORS AND APPOINTMENTS

Advisor, UK High Commission, British Council, British Council School on cyberbullying and cybersafety
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Child Recovery National Award 2011 – Awarded by the Canadian RCMP Child Protection Unit
FBI Director’s Award, 2010 – Awarded by the US FBI Director Mueller
Online Safety Technical Working Group, appointed by US Congress and the US NTIA 2009
Rapporteur of the United Nations "2009 Cyberhate: Danger in Cyber Space" event, appointed by the UN
Family Internet Safety Advisor for McAfee, the world’s largest dedicated cybersecurity company (appointed in 2009)
Internet Safety Technology Task Force (one of 29 appointees) appointed by 49 US State Attorneys General in 2008
Microsoft, Xbox Gaming Advisory Board, 2007-2009
US Congress issued a resolution honoring her work on child safety, 2005
Community Leadership Award, 2005, Awarded by Child Abuse Prevention Services
American Society of Business Publication Editors’ Award “Gold” 2004, for her Information Week Magazine article “Patriotism, Compliance and Confidentiality”
Activist of the Year Award, 2002, Awarded by Media Ecology Association
Internet Pioneer of the Year, 2001, Awarded by Family PC Magazine
Home Office, U.K., Child Protection, Criminal Laws and Law Enforcement Task Forces 2000
UNESCO – Innocence in Danger US National Action Committee Chair (to address child sexual exploitation online), appointed by Federico Mayor, Secretary General of UNESCO in 1999
US President’s Service Award – Clinton Whitehouse 1998, Parry Aftab accepted the award, at her insistence, on behalf of her organization’s volunteers (WiredSafety’s predecessor)

SELECT ORGANIZATIONS/APPOINTMENTS/ADVISORY AND BOARD POSITIONS

Viacom, MTV Public Affairs Advisory Board (A Thin Line) (2009- Present)
Facebook, Facebook Safety Advisory Board Member, one of five original appointees (2008-2016)
Fair Play, Board of Directors (along with Secretary Tom Ridge and former FBI Director Louis Freeh)
US Distracted Driving Safety Alliance – Founding Member 2011
National Crime Prevention Council, Advisory Board (appointed) 2009
TRUSTe, Member- Board of Directors (2002- 2008)
The Stop Cyberbullying Coalition, founder 2008
US Ad Council, Advisory Committee member (1999 - 2003)
Rappateour, E.U. Online Content Regulation, Luxembourg, June 2001 Bertelsmann Foundation
Parents Advisory Group of the Internet (PAGi), program developer for Singapore MDA cybersafety program, Singapore, 2000 - 2001
Children’s Television Workshop Online (Sesame Workshop) Advisory Board (appointed 1998)
UNESCO, President, U.S. National Action Committee, Innocence in Danger (appointed 1999 by Director-General UNESCO)
The Internet Society (ISOC), Chair, Internet Societal Task Force and Societal Steering Group (elected 2001)
Member of Public Policy Committee ISOC (appointed 2001)
Chair, Privacy and Security Working Group of The Internet Society Task Force, ISOC (2000-2001)
WiredSafety (wiredsafety.org) the world’s largest Internet safety and help group, Executive Director (1998-present)
The National Urban League, Technology Advisory Committee (appointed 1997)

GOVERNMENT ADVISORY POSITIONS AND SELECT GOVERNMENTAL TESTIMONY

Parry Aftab has advised many US governmental agencies, from the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, the Federal Trade Association, the Federal Communications Commission, the FBI, US Customs Service, Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces, the Department of Education, the US Postal Services, US Congress, the National Telecommunications Information Agency, the State Department and the Commerce Department and several state government authorities, several Governors, a majority of the states’ attorneys general, state police authorities, the Manhattan District Attorney and state gambling authorities in the US. In addition, she has advised the Canadian government, the RCMP, several Premiers, Ministers of Education and Minsters of Women and regional and local law enforcement agencies, as well as expert task forces on cyberbullying, privacy, gaming and cybersecurity. She has advised the Singapore Media Development Agency, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, the UK Home Office and National Crime Agency and Interpol’s Crimes Against Children Task Force (in some cases these agencies have changed their names over the years, and these are the current names).

She has testified many times before the US Congress, the US Senate, the FTC hearings, the COPA hearings, the US National Science Foundation, NASA, the FDIC, the US Commerce Department, the Canadian House of Commons, the National Research Council of Canada (on cybersecurity and privacy issues) and has advised the NY City Council and the NY Mayoral offices of Michael Bloomberg and Rudy Giuliani. She has also presented programs for the UK House of Lords, UK Parliament and International Summits for Ireland, Canada, Hong-Kong, Spain, Mexico and Singapore.

AUTHOR, SELECTED BOOKS

Cyberbullying Guide (Spanish and English guide on preventing and dealing with cyberbullying), Pantallas Amigas, Spain 2006

Internet con los menores Riesgos (Spanish guide for parents on Internet safety, especially written for Spain and South and Central America) Spain 2005

Children and the Internet (official and the first Chinese Internet safety guide), China 2004

The Parent’s Guide to Protecting Your Children in Cyberspace, McGraw- Hill, (U.S. edition, January 2000; UK edition, March 2000; Singapore edition May 2000 and Spanish language US edition November 2000)

Inocencia en Peligro : Conviva con sus Hijos y Protéjalos Cuando Naveguen por Internet (2001)

A Parents’ Guide to the Internet: And How to Protect Your Children in Cyberspace (1997)

CONTRIBUTOR, BOOKS

Child Abuse on the Internet.... Ending the Silence, UNESCO (2001) Carlos A. Arnaldo, Editor, Chapter 21: The Technical Response: Blocking, Filtering And Rating The Internet

E-Commerce and Internet Law Treatise, (2015, 2016 and 2017) Ian Ballon Editor, Digital Best Practices in the Children’s Industry

The Best In E-Commerce Law, (2001) Warren E. Agin, Editor, Children’s Online Privacy Law

Smart Surfing – Protecting You and Your Family From Cybercrime – State of Florida 2007

MEDIA AND NEWS APPEARANCES

Parry Aftab has appeared in more than 3000 news and print publications around the world in various capacities. She has been a regular commentator for CNN, Good Morning America, the Today Show, national and international network news shows, as well.