Helena is Mastercard’s Europe Data Protection Officer (DPO) overseeing the protection of personal data in the European Economic Area (EEA), and leads the Global Privacy Compliance Assurance program to ensure Mastercard continues to comply with the global data laws and regulations. She has been with the company since June 2017. 

Prior to joining Mastercard, Helena worked as Senior Privacy Officer at Standard Chartered and at ADP in Singapore, where she led their Privacy Compliance Program and outreach activities for the Asia Pacific Region.  Prior to that, Helena worked as General Counsel at the Dutch Data Protection Authority in the Netherlands, where she managed the legal department responsible for enforcement, litigation and compliance.  Helena started her career as an international attorney working in Allen & Overy’s Amsterdam and New York offices assisting clients with competition law and finance matters.

Helena graduated from Leiden University in business and international law and was admitted to the Amsterdam bar. She is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/A and CIPM) and was a member of the IAPP Asia Advisory Board. She served as an expert on the B2G Data Sharing Expert Group establishing recommendations for the European Commission on data sharing