About the IAPP

DEVIN DEBACKER has served in senior positions and leadership roles in national security and law in the Department of Justice and the White House in Democratic and Republican administrations. He has been at the forefront of policy and legal developments in the national-security regulation of data, technology, and business, with extensive experience in data security, economic and trade sanctions, inbound and outbound foreign investment, telecommunications, cybersecurity, supply-chain security, and import and export controls. He has advised on and personally helped develop over 50 presidential orders, implemented new and significant regulatory changes, counseled Assistants to the President, Attorneys General, Deputy Attorneys General, and General Counsel, and has repeatedly briefed Members of Congress, congressional committees, and staff on key issues and the development of new authorities.

Currently, as Chief of the Foreign Investment Review Section in DOJ’s National Security Division, Devin leads DOJ’s work to address national-security risks involving the private sector and technology, including leading the establishment and implementation of the new regulatory program under Executive Order 14117 to address national-security risks to Americans’ sensitive personal data and overseeing DOJ’s work to address risks involving foreign investments (including CFIUS and outbound investment), telecom, technology supply chains, and other aspects of economic national security. Previously, Devin served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel, where he advised senior White House, National Security Council, and agency lawyers and policymakers on the most critical constitutional, statutory, and administrative-law questions. Before that, as Associate Counsel and Special Assistant to the President in the White House Counsel’s Office, he advised senior decisionmakers on issues regarding a wide range of matters involving economic statecraft, national security, and separation-of-powers, and investigated high-profile matters at the highest levels of the Executive Branch. Before government, Devin was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP focused on complex, multijurisdictional litigation.