Anouk Ruhaak

I am a data governance expert, helping organizations and communities design and implement models that put people first, from data trusts to data commons. I believe that who controls data matters, and I work to make that control more democratic, transparent, and fair.

I am the chair of Stichting Data Bescherming Nederland (SDBN), a foundation using strategic litigation to fight for privacy rights. We are currently taking legal action against companies like X, Amazon, and Adobe for violating those rights.

In past lives, I have been a Senior Fellow at the Mozilla Foundation, a Fellow at AlgorithmWatch, a Visiting Scholar at the Ostrom Workshop, a political economist, a data journalist, and a software developer. Each of those roles shaped how I think about power, accountability, and the role data plays in our lives.