Dr Elena Georgiou is a Profiling, Data Protection and Privacy expert. She is passionate about law, ethics, and technology, and is dedicated to creating and promoting a culture for the protection of personal data, privacy, and other fundamental rights within today’s profiling-based society.
Dr Elena holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law, an LLM in European Law, an LLM in Computer and Communication Law, and a PhD in Profiling and Data Protection Law from UK universities. Dr Elena is a licensed lawyer and a member of the Cyprus Bar Association since 2001. She is also a certified vocational trainer from Human Resource Development Authority of Cyprus (HRDA) since 2023. She has over 18 years of professional legal career in public and private sectors, striving for excellence and developing substantial international and multicultural experience, achieving results individually and in interdisciplinary teams. She has undertaken positions within the government as an employee in the European Affairs sector and in the private sector as a Legal Consultant, Academic, Law Tutor, Editor and Publisher.
In 2011, she has been included in InBusiness magazine as one of the best 40 “new and young entrepreneurs under the age of 40 in Cyprus” for her idea and creation of the ‘Legal & more...’ magazine (InBusiness magazine, Issue 59, January 2011). I addition to comprehensive expertise in Data Protection and Profiling as well as the Privacy and Human Rights European Legal Framework, she has excellent knowledge of and experience dealing with the legal aspects related to cybersecurity, personal and group profiling, robotics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies gained from her PhD thesis and her continuing work as a Data Protection - Tech Legal Consultant and Lecturer, and as a Researcher on these areas of law.
Dr Elena Georgiou is a Profiling, Data Protection and Privacy expert. She is passionate about law, ethics, and technology, and is dedicated to creating and promoting a culture for the protection of personal data, privacy, and other fundamental rights within today’s profiling-based society.
Dr Elena holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law, an LLM in European Law, an LLM in Computer and Communication Law, and a PhD in Profiling and Data Protection Law from UK universities. Dr Elena is a licensed lawyer and a member of the Cyprus Bar Association since 2001. She is also a certified vocational trainer from Human Resource Development Authority of Cyprus (HRDA) since 2023. She has over 18 years of professional legal career in public and private sectors, striving for excellence and developing substantial international and multicultural experience, achieving results individually and in interdisciplinary teams. She has undertaken positions within the government as an employee in the European Affairs sector and in the private sector as a Legal Consultant, Academic, Law Tutor, Editor and Publisher.
In 2011, she has been included in InBusiness magazine as one of the best 40 “new and young entrepreneurs under the age of 40 in Cyprus” for her idea and creation of the ‘Legal & more...’ magazine (InBusiness magazine, Issue 59, January 2011). I addition to comprehensive expertise in Data Protection and Profiling as well as the Privacy and Human Rights European Legal Framework, she has excellent knowledge of and experience dealing with the legal aspects related to cybersecurity, personal and group profiling, robotics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies gained from her PhD thesis and her continuing work as a Data Protection - Tech Legal Consultant and Lecturer, and as a Researcher on these areas of law.
Dr Elena has worked with some of the world’s most prestigious and recognised universities, such as University College London (UCL), London School of Economics (LSE), and Westminster University London. She has also delivered lectures and keynote speeches at universities in Cyprus. She used her positive energy and tireless passion to inspire and educate students about the perils of profiling and the risks of data sharing so not to expose themselves without realising it.
Personal development and goal achieving were always an area of interest for her. Through her professional and academic career, she has developed a great interest in research, mentoring, and speaking. She encourages students and professionals to think consciously about their online navigation(s), searchers, purchases, and attitude so to preserve their rights to private life and freedom as well as their individuality within society.
Last but not least, Dr Elena believes that knowledge is power and in the age of abundant information one can be either extremely empowered or extremely misled.
Dr Elena has worked with some of the world’s most prestigious and recognised universities, such as University College London (UCL), London School of Economics (LSE), and Westminster University London. She has also delivered lectures and keynote speeches at universities in Cyprus. She used her positive energy and tireless passion to inspire and educate students about the perils of profiling and the risks of data sharing so not to expose themselves without realising it.
Personal development and goal achieving were always an area of interest for her. Through her professional and academic career, she has developed a great interest in research, mentoring, and speaking. She encourages students and professionals to think consciously about their online navigation(s), searchers, purchases, and attitude so to preserve their rights to private life and freedom as well as their individuality within society.
Last but not least, Dr Elena believes that "knowledge is power and in the age of abundant information one can be either extremely empowered or extremely misled."
1. Legal & More…
I was the founder, editor, and publisher of ‘Legal & more…’ magazine. After searching the market (and not finding) a legal magazine that covered legal issues and updates for Cypriot legal professionals and businesspeople, I decided to publish the first legal magazine myself. A quarterly publication for legal and business experts in Cyprus. Everything you needed to know about Cypriot and European legal issues, court cases, regulations, and legal events were covered by ‘Legal & more….’.
2. Lawyering v Consulting and Education…
Although lawyering is part of my family inheritance (my father and uncle have been practising law for decades), I have never considered myself a traditional lawyer with a black suit advocating in courtrooms. If you want to know why I got into the consultation and education arena, now you know (though I remember myself advising and teaching others from childhood!).
I love the way the law requires you to be logical and formal in order to prove your case, but legal education gives you the freedom to be creative with your thoughts and arguments. Whether in a suit or jeans, there is nothing that sharpens your mind more than answering questions in front of anxious business and law students.
3. I Love…
I love reading and I am always fascinated by seeing bookshops and library shelves full of books. I want to read all of them! Like, Maud Casey the American author and Professor of Creative Writing, I believe that ‘I was born with a reading list I will never finish’. I read all genres except science fiction and horror stories. When I read, I travel. I see every book as a journey and every story as an experience that will equip me with new knowledge and new perspectives on life and people.
4. My Gift…
I have a gift for research. Whatever I do, I always do research. Whether I will buy clothes for the new season, find an article, buy a book, or come up with a new idea. I also have a gift for creative writing. I didn’t know I could write until Covid-19 invaded our lives. I started writing my thoughts and suddenly - surprisingly - my new talent of myself revealed.
5.Fighter and Persistent…
I see myself as a fighter and those who know me, say I inherited it from my grandmother Eleni. My mentality is a ‘can-do-mentality’. I never give up until I find a way to achieve my goals. I am always persistent to achieve whatever I have in mind and always determined to finish what I have started. If I would have given up, I would not be who I am today (or have this website).
6.What I Admire Most…
I admire simplicity in success. I envy successful people with intelligence and simplicity in their thoughts and actions. No crowd pleasing or fancy lifestyles. They just let their work reveal the extent of their accomplishments. This is what I call quiet - real - success.
I also admire people with multiple knowledge bases and a passion for reading. People who dedicate their lives to learning and improving their abilities so to keep themselves up to date on the latest developments. I think this is the reason I decided to study law. I like the diversity of knowledge that law studies encourage you to develop by introducing you to different legal fields and traditional regulations while at the same time exposing you to the legal issues of the modern world and requiring you to continuously modernise your knowledge.
7.My Approach to Privacy and Tech…
I see privacy as a fundamental human right that gives us the freedom to develop our unique personalities and individuality. Privacy protects our inner parts of us – experience, knowledge, actions, thoughts, and feelings - that define who we are. Without privacy, our unique capabilities cannot be evolved. And without them, a democratic and fair society is not possible to exist.
My mission, therefore, is to build and deliver knowledge in relation to the legal and social issues associated with the use of smart technologies in order for business and legal professionals to develop a sense of responsibility towards their customers’ data. Protecting customers’ privacy, helps companies to build long-term loyal customer relationships and ensures a more satisfactory application of the law. Because the way you use customers’ data is an influence for a positive or negative trust. And trust, is a prerequisite for a long-lasting customer relationship and strong brand community.
8. My Approach to Life…
If I was to sum up how I approach life, it would be the quote and the phrase below:
Where there’s a will there’s a way. *
When the time is right.. sooner or later.. what it means for you will come to you in exactly the right way.
*(The sentiment of this phrase was first published in 1640, in the work Jacula Prudentusm written by George Herbert: ‘To him that will, ways are not wanting’. By the 1820s it had been rephrased to the quote above).
