NEW YORK – April 24, 2019 – Today, GroundTruth, the leading location platform for driving visits, announced the appointment of Christopher Yamaoka to the role of Chief Privacy Officer.
Yamaoka, who has spent the past four plus years at GroundTruth, will continue to oversee the company’s global legal affairs as General Counsel, in addition to his new responsibilities as Chief Privacy Officer. In his expanded role, Yamaoka will ensure the company’s privacy practices continue to meet both existing and new laws, regulations, and industry self-regulatory codes. He will also lead GroundTruth’s cross-department privacy team, to develop, implement, and enforce recommended practices.
“As the location industry matures, it’s our duty to ensure that consumers are kept in the forefront and that GroundTruth remains a leader on this critical issue. Chris is a talented lawyer with whom I’ve had the pleasure of working with for several years now, and under his guidance we’ve accomplished many milestones including multiple years of 100% year over year growth and profitability, several rounds of fundraising, and the acquisition of WeatherBug,” said Sunil Kumar, CEO, GroundTruth. “Chris has a deep understanding of both company and industry practices, and having developed GroundTruth’s global privacy practices and policies is the right person to lead us forward in these matters.”
To kick off his duties as Chief Privacy Officer, Yamaoka joined other industry thought leaders in Q1 to discuss responsible data practices and consumer protection in the dynamic mobile location ad targeting marketplace. The discussion was hosted by the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA), the leading industry privacy self-regulation program for location-based advertising and featured the DAA’s Executive Director, Lou Mastria, and Jon Brescia, the Director of Adjudications and Technology at Advertising Self-Regulatory Council (ASRC) and Council of Better Business Bureaus. ASRC is one of two accountability mechanisms of the DAA.
Prior to joining GroundTruth, Yamaoka worked in private practice at Cooley LLP, serving as outside general counsel to emerging growth companies and advising on transactions from venture capital financing to mergers and acquisitions. He received his J.D., magna cum laude, from UC Hastings College of the Law and a B.A. in Economics from Amherst College. Yamaoka is also a member of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) Location and Privacy Committees.
Yamaoka reports into GroundTruth CEO, Sunil Kumar and is headquartered in Mountain View, CA with global reach.
About GroundTruth
GroundTruth is the leading location platform for driving visits. Using its proprietary Blueprints technology, GroundTruth is able to learn about mobile users and reach them at the right place and right time, ultimately helping companies inform their marketing decisions, increase sales, and grow their businesses. Through its data foundation, GroundTruth sees 2 out of 3 smartphone users in the U.S. and more than 30 billion physical visits annually across 21 countries globally. Learn more: www.groundtruth.com
Contacts
GroundTruth
Jessica Meyers
646-634-7547
Jessica.Meyers@groundtruth.com
Sunshine Sachs on behalf of GroundTruth
Katharine Sargent
212-691-2800
groundtruth@sunshinesachs.com