As technology advances, regulation of its immersive capabilities tends to — if not always — lag behind, resulting in a patchwork of privacy legislation in the U.S. and around the world.

It's a "puzzle" Baily Martin, CIPP/US, the 2021-2022 recipient of the IAPP Westin Scholar Award and graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center, finds fascinating. The IAPP Westin Scholar Award recognizes students identified by professors as future leaders in the field of privacy or data protection.

"I think it gives practitioners an opportunity to really take a step back and look at the evolution of the law because it's unfolding right in front of us," she said. "I enjoy doing the comparative studies between the different types of law, whether top down or more industry specific, but I think it's an opportunity for people from all sorts of industries and sectors to come together and think about the law as the technology is developing."

A 2019 graduate of the University of Alabama with a triple major in international studies, political science and Spanish, Martin interned for the U.S. House and Senate and, while at Georgetown, worked in the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's Division of Privacy and Identity Protection and in two bureaus at the Department of State. She also interned with Apple's Global Privacy and Law Enforcement Compliance Team and at Hogan Lovells law firm, realizing that while the legal field is broad, her interests could come together with one substantive focus on privacy and cybersecurity.

"As we know, privacy pervades all different areas," she said. "Apple was my first deep dive into the privacy realm, tracking state laws and international regulations. Seeing privacy from the law enforcement compliance perspective was equally interesting. Apple was my realization that everything I had been learning in law school — like the privacy-as-property theory or tort law as a tool for protecting privacy — had privacy implications, so it was interesting to get the inside scoop on what this field has to offer."

While Apple provided a "one-stop-shop" look at privacy issues, Martin said she narrowed in on a niche aspect while at the FTC: reviewing the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act and exploring ways to further protect children online. She also got to experience the differences between a private company and government agency.

"At the time, people were comparing the FTC to a data privacy officer-type entity. Since I was there, it's already changed roles and worn different hats in the privacy realm as the United States has tried to grapple with the enforcement of privacy laws by multiple agencies," she said.

Martin is now pursuing a Master of Arts in government and a post-baccalaureate certificate in intelligence at Johns Hopkins University, while clerking on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

"Now that I feel like I've been able to see privacy from all these different perspectives, I wanted to get more of an inside scoop on how the government uses, collects and disseminates our data," she said.

She plans to return to private practice in the late summer of 2024 at Hogan Lovells.

"I'm hoping to be able to take all these foundational skills that the clerkships have afforded me, look more at the regulatory side, and get back to the basics with privacy," she said. "I think that will be particularly interesting and refreshing because it's a big group of people who know what they are talking about. I'm excited to get back to more privacy-specific projects."

Receiving the IAPP Westin Scholar Award provided the opportunity to network and learn more, Martin said, as she pursued her start in the privacy field. While leaving school to enter the working world was intimidating, she said being a young professional in the privacy space, in particular, eased any anxiety.

"Privacy is definitely an area of the law where we are all learning at the same time," she said. "It's a robust community of people, and everyone I've met in the field is willing to share their knowledge and story of how they got into privacy law. It's cool being excited to go to work because there's always something new and compelling to explore as the law continues to evolve. You're never bored."