Retailer Albertsons’ Chief Privacy Officer on Making Policies Readable and Starting Out at NASA

Rebecca Shore chose a non-traditional career path in the legal field, one where the sky was the limit. Shore decided to join the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), instead of working at a law firm after graduating from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law in 2006. At NASA, she was hired as a consultant resource responsible for the overarching agency information security and privacy program, a role that saw her working closely with the agency's employees. But, when an opportunity presented itself, Shore discovered her passion lay in building policy frameworks. “I think I have something you're going to absolutely love,” her then-manager told Shore. And soon, she was drafting policy and process documentation, including the development of NASA's privacy breach response procedures, building out privacy-related assessment processes and developing exercise and training modules. Uber’s First Chief Privacy Officer on Finding Mindfulness and a Trip to Vegas “The moment I grasped that this was where my passion lies, I was hooked,” said Shore, who was soon to give birth to her second child during her interview with Adweek. “And this what I wanted to be doing for the rest of my career.” As the vice president and chief privacy officer at retailer Albertsons, Shore shoulders a plethora of tasks, including strategic planning for a new fiscal year, which focuses on data privacy, policy development and operational planning. To that, she evaluates the use of privacy technology, works closely with information security and builds new privacy programs for its customers, 34 million of which are loyal members, per its earnings. Most recently, Shore focused on the evaluation of digital mobile privacy issues and the development and implementation of solutions that meet global requirements, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Now, Albertsons is a company with an annual revenue of $77.65 billion in 2022, a 3.15% increase from 2021, according to its earnings. The company spent under $100 million on ads across digital, print, and national TV in the last year, according to Media Radar. Meanwhile, the $24.6 billion merger of Albertsons and The Kroger Co., currently working to win regulatory approval, would make the pair a duopoly in retail media—a sector that’s gaining ad market muscle. The total revenue from retail ad sales in the U.S. will increase 31% to $40.81 billion this year. This is three times its 2019 spend, according to market research firm Insider Intelligence. “The privacy legal landscape in the U.S. and customer data expectations are shifting," said Shore. "As a result, organizations that embrace privacy as a value add will be viewed as more trustworthy. A privacy program and organizational mindset that pursues all personal data initiatives, including ad-related, in a privacy-conscious way is more likely to succeed in maintaining customer trust and ensuring clients that what is offered aligns with legal and customer expectations.” On prioritizing consumers Companies today manage greater amounts of personal data. It’s no surprise that privacy is becoming more central to user trust. For Shore, to be a CPO is another way to demonstrate her commitment to protecting people and their personal data—a trait embedded in her formative years. Growing up, her parents put an emphasis on giving back to the community. As a child, Shore would often watch her mother volunteer at shelters, help the homeless and get involved in other community initiatives. “We were taught to think beyond ourselves,” she said. “This early introduction into others' perspective has proven incredibly valuable in my career, part of what a privacy leader does is to wear their customer hat and keep a customer’s privacy expectation at the forefront.” Salesforce’s Chief Data Officer on Diversity, Becoming an Author and Helping Other Adoptees Although CPOs are critical to companies, many are yet to spend time thinking deeply about privacy issues, Shore said. This is especially clear in how well they produce written customer-facing privacy policies. “I read a lot of privacy policies where it definitely sounds like a lawyer wrote it,” she said. “And aren't necessarily thinking about helping someone understand what you're doing in a very clear way.” But it has been Shore's non-traditional career path, especially her time spent at NASA, that spurred a broader understanding of how businesses work outside of just the law. “I would encourage people as they look to get into this field to take advantage where they can,” Shore said. “Even if it's a business partner inviting you to their strategic planning session.”