About the IAPP

Alex Greenstein has served as Director of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield program since July 2019. In this role, he is responsible for management and administration of the Privacy Shield program, as well as policy regarding transatlantic data privacy, data flows, and digital trade issues.

Prior to joining the Commerce Department, Alex served as Senior Advisor in the Office of the Coordinator for Communications and Internet Policy at the U.S. Department of State. In that role, he was responsible for global data privacy issues, surveillance, law enforcement access to data, civil liberties, data flows, digital trade, as well as digital economy policy in Europe.

Previously, from 2016 to 2017, Alex served at the White House as Senior Policy Advisor for Economic and Technology Policy at the National Economic Council. His responsibilities included EU-U.S. Privacy Shield implementation, EU Digital Single Market engagement, G-20 digital economy outcome negotiations, China digital economy and cybersecurity issues, APEC Cross-Border Privacy Rules expansion, and a range of other matters at the intersection of technology and foreign policy.

From 2015 to 2016, Alex served as Director for the European Union, Southern Europe, and European Economic Affairs at the National Security Council, and oversaw negotiation of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield.

Alex was a career Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State for 18 years. He served at the U.S. Mission to the European Union in Brussels, Belgium; as a Senior Advisor to the State Department’s Special Envoy for Eurasia Energy; on the State Department’s Russia Desk; and at the U.S. Embassies in Kyiv, Ukraine; Beirut, Lebanon; and Bangui, Central African Republic.

Alex holds a B.A. in International Economics and Russian Studies from George Washington University and has pursued graduate level economics coursework through the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Service Economics Course. He is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.