Notes from the Asia-Pacific region: Robust conversations at richly rewarding Summit

This year's IAPP Global Summit 2026, held just last week, featured a series of robust, potent conversations, which lingered long after attendees departed. 

Highlights continuing to brew in my mind are distilled below. 

The conference opened with cognitive scientist Maya Shankar, whose work and book on decision-making invite us to reconsider the invisible forces shaping human behavior. Shankar's keynote was nothing short of a hand-crafted, house-blend reflection on how small interventions can stir profound change.

In a conversation with IAPP Vice President and Chief Knowledge Officer Caitlin Fennessy, CIPP/US, world-renowned author Salman Rushdie added a deeply human and cultural dimension. Reflecting on his experiences and observations, including life in India, Rushdie highlighted how privacy is neither universal nor evenly distributed. In the slums, privacy is a luxury. Cultural norms, social structures and economic realities shape what privacy means — and whether it is even attainable. 

Boston University School of Law Professor Woodrow Hartzog's keynote was a calibrated dark roast — deep, complex and intentionally uncomfortable. He spoke candidly about privacy's ongoing identity crisis. Against the backdrop of shrinking budgets and expanding technological capability, Hartzog warned of the risks posed by surveillance systems, including facial recognition, and the creeping normalization of intrusive technologies. Unfettered artificial intelligence, he argued, threatens not just data protection, but the very fabric of social institutions, human relationships, dignity and autonomy. His prescription was striking in its simplicity, yet difficult in execution: Minimize data. Do not exploit people. And, perhaps most provocatively in an age of AI: dethrone efficiency. 

One of the most impactful moments, which also drew a large crowd, was the conversation between Prince Harry and IAPP Research and Insights Director Joe Jones. Speaking with candor shaped by personal experience, Prince Harry framed privacy not as a technical issue, but as a foundational one essential to trust and safety in modern society. He emphasized that without privacy, individuals cannot feel secure, and institutions cannot command trust. 

His message carried both urgency and optimism. In acknowledging the work of the privacy community, Prince Harry noted that the professionals gathered at Summit gave him hope; a sweet note among an otherwise strong, sometimes bitter discourse. It was a reminder that while the challenges are systemic, so too is the community working to address them.

A distinctly APAC flavor seeped into my second day, where Khaitan & Co. Partner Supratim Chakraborty and I had the pleasure of moderating a panel on India's groundbreaking Digital Personal Data Protection Act — with credits to PwC India Associate Director, Data Privacy Abhishek Tiwari, AIGP, CIPP/A, CIPP/E, CIPM, FIP, for bringing our session together. Tiwari could not make the trip to Summit in the end due to recent events. India is a jurisdiction that continues to evolve with intensity and complexity, in a region that embraces strong, fast-moving and deeply layered digital responsibility standards. 

What emerged from Summit this year is a need for adaptability — and as with crafting the perfect cortado or macchiato — balance. Too much emphasis on efficiency, and we risk eroding trust. Too little, and we fail to scale solutions in a hot, data-driven world. In equal measure, privacy frameworks eschew a uniform mug; they need to be filtered, slow drip, to reflect local notes and a distinct aroma. 

And finally, the quality of human connections will always be irreplaceable. Social interactions simmer into long-lasting friendships and a strong full-bodied community, which make Summit's conclusion slightly bittersweet, but all-around richly rewarding.