About the IAPP

Cristina Vela has over 15 years of experience in the electronic communications sector.

Vela has been the chairperson of ETNO WG on data protection, trust and security since December 2002. Over that period, she has been coordinating the ETNO WG positions and has been deeply involved in the debates regarding data protection, privacy and security at the EU level.

Vela joined the Telef+¦nica permanent representation office in Brussels in 1996. Since then, she has held various legal, regulatory and public affairs positions in Brussels and at Telef+¦nica headquarters in Madrid.

Vela holds a master's degree in international and European law from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. She previously studied law at, and graduated from, the University of Balearic Islands (Spain). She speaks English, German, French, Italian, some Dutch and her mother tongue is Spanish.