Jodi Daniels is Founder and CEO of Red Clover Advisors, a privacy consultancy, helping companies create privacy programs, build customer trust and achieve GDPR, CCPA, and US privacy law compliance. Jodi helps companies with the daily operations such as data mapping, individual rights, training, policies, etc. and also serves as a fractional chief privacy officer.
Jodi is a Certified Informational Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) with more than 20 years of corporate experience at Deloitte, The Home Depot, Cox Enterprises, Bank of America where she most recently served as the privacy partner for Digital Banking and Digital Marketing. Ms. Daniels started her privacy career by creating the comprehensive privacy program at Cox Automotive. She launched an online advertising network for Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book.
Jodi holds a Masters of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. She lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband, two girls, and a big fluffy dog named Basil.
Connect with Jodi on LinkedIn and follow Red Clover on Facebook and Twitter.
Show Transcript
Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for GWBC Radio’s Open for Business. Now, here’s your host.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:18] Lee Kantor here. Another episode of GWBC Open for Business. And today, we have with us Jodi Daniels with Red Clover Advisors. Welcome, Jodi.
Jodi Daniels: [00:00:29] Well, hi. So glad to be here.
Lee Kantor: [00:00:32] Before we get too far into things, can you share a little bit about Red Clover Advisors? How are you serving folks?
Jodi Daniels: [00:00:38] Absolutely. Red Clover Advisors is a boutique privacy consultancy. And what that means is we’re helping companies comply with global privacy laws like GDPR, the big EU privacy law, or the brand new California Consumer Privacy Act that became effective in January of 2020. and actually is going to start being enforced in just a couple months in July 2020.
Lee Kantor: [00:01:07] Now, can you shed the profile of your clients? Who typically hires you?
Jodi Daniels: [00:01:13] So, we honestly work with companies from startup all the way to Fortune 100 companies, I would say the majority of our clients are in that small to mid-sized market, kind of the folks who really don’t have anyone on staff really tasked with privacy, and they’re sort of tasked, and “Oh, there’s a privacy law. What do we need to do with it?” And so, we help those companies really get the initial project off the ground and build the foundation for a privacy program. And then, we also serve as a fractional privacy officer for the company.
Lee Kantor: [00:01:53] Now, how did you decide to specialize in privacy? How did that come about?
Jodi Daniels: [00:01:59] It’s an interesting story. I used to work at Cox Enterprises and the subsidiary, Cox Automotive. And long ago, before there were Facebook ads stalking us, I created a behaviorally targeted ad network. So, I stalked people for cars at AutoTrader.com. And from there was, actually, when the online advertising industry, so more than about 11 years ago, came together and said, “We really need some type of self-regulatory body to prevent government legislation.” Ironically, it lasted about 10 years. And here we are now with new government legislation for privacy. But I was responsible for that compliance with that self-regulatory framework. And from there, realized we also needed someone paying attention to privacy on a full-time basis, and created a privacy program at Cox Automotive. And that was where my start into privacy came from. So, my specialty is really in the marketing and the privacy side, which I find fascinating.
Lee Kantor: [00:03:03] Now, maybe explain to the listener about some elements of their privacy they might be giving up that maybe they’re not aware of.
Jodi Daniels: [00:03:14] Yes. So, it happens in a couple different places. So, the first is, oftentimes, when we’re buying something or we share information to a company, we hope that the company is going to use this and deliver whatever product or service that we just signed up for. But sometimes, those companies are also sharing it with other companies. Maybe it’s across their affiliates that we didn’t even realize how big the company was and all their different affiliates, or they sell it and share it to other companies. So, that’s one.
Jodi Daniels: [00:03:47] Another is with the proliferation of smart devices. So, think about your smart TV or Alexa, your Echo, your smart fridge, smart vacuum, telephones, all the different smart devices all over the place. They’re often listening or watching, and people don’t realize, “Oh, well, maybe I …” Especially right now in this remote working era, you need turn that smart device off while I’m on my viewing conference call because it can and is listening. In fact, I’ve even been on webinars, or conference calls, or in-person presentations, and someone’s Apple Watch’s Siri is going off because it actually thought we were listening or we are talking to her. So, all those different places are gathering data all the time and, also, utilizing it in ways that we might not have been thinking of.
Lee Kantor: [00:04:42] It’s one of those things where it has to listen to the trigger word, that means it has to listen all the time in order to hear the trigger word.
Jodi Daniels: [00:04:53] Right. And the more it listens, the more trigger words it’s going to have, which means the smarter it’s going to be. And you also have multiple people in a home all talking, especially now, all at the same time. So, it’s an interesting time. We have privacy from use-end collection. So, the examples I’ve given or how are any of these companies is using our data, but we also have the security part, and we want to make sure that we’re protecting the data from any type of bad actors that are coming through. So, kind of your classic phishing email. Is it really from the person that you expected the email to come from? Or is it a bad actor doing a really great job of mimicking an email? And then, oops, we’ve clicked on it. And now, we’ve potentially opened a huge opportunity for a bad actor to find their way into our computers and networks.
Lee Kantor: [00:05:47] And then, why don’t you educate the listener about that because some, maybe back in the day, the bad actor might have been a teenager in the basement just doing this to do this. But nowadays, there’s an organized effort to get some of this data. Can you talk about that a little bit?
Jodi Daniels: [00:06:09] Absolutely. So, phishing is up 350% in just a couple months. It’s a significant problem. And they are definitely not the teenagers who are bored, they are organized actors from across the globe. When you get personal data, it can go for pennies to hundreds of dollars, depending on what type of information you’re getting. Some is more interesting than other types of data. And they do it for gathering the data and be able to make some money. They also do it to be able to expose the company and be able to take a company down, expose it, lower stock price, all kinds of thing.
Jodi Daniels: [00:06:51] And the way they do it is they’re very, very clever. Some of these emails look exactly like you would expect them to be, and it could just be maybe the logo is a little bit off. Maybe it says “.org,” instead of “.gov” or maybe it’s, “.gov.org.” And people miss that one little piece right there. So, they’re very, very clever. They’re touchy subject lines to really lure someone in, or it’s information that you really want. Maybe it’s on COVID or something along those lines. So, again, you open it. And as soon as you click on it, and you have the potential, now, for someone to come in into the computer, maybe find a way into a network, they might sit and kind of watch for a little while. Maybe they’ll create rules and forward information from your e-mail. Maybe they’ll find your way on some shared drive and see what other type of information is there.
Jodi Daniels: [00:07:46] So, making sure that companies understand what phishing is and really educating. I believe you cannot over-educate employees on how to spot what a phishing email is. And also, to try and prevent … think about all the different systems, your computer ware where you have information. Maybe it’s the Dropbox account, maybe it’s a network drive, any of the tools and system that you use, and to have some good security measures. Things like what’s called multi-factor authentication, where you get that one time password, or you have to say yes before you can keep marching through. VPN is another really good one. And strong passwords, like long complex password or use a password manager to help you remember them. Those are really great ways to help minimize security breaches and, also, education to help make sure people understand how to spot phishing email.
Lee Kantor: [00:08:44] Now, is this something that requires your clients or prospective clients to have a big budget? Can you do some work for companies on a smaller budget? Or is this something that costs a lot?
Jodi Daniels: [00:08:59] I may put on a couple different ways. So, very specific to what we’re just talking about, like doing multi-factor authentication, getting a VPN and strong passwords, that is low budget. And communication, that is all very, very inexpensive, low budget. And there are tools ranging from free to a couple dollars a person to be able to help with those requirements. And then, from the privacy work, complying with the different laws that we talked about, we’re really flexible. There are some companies that this is sort of the package, take it or leave it. The approach that we’ve taken is very much to be flexible to work with the company on what it is that they need and really prioritize. Maybe you need one or two things now, and you need it in this capacity, and we’ll build up over time.
Jodi Daniels: [00:09:48] So, for a smaller company, you really want to have someone who’s going to be able to help guide you and understand what your company’s impact is, and prevention on both security and privacy is always going to be much less costly than maybe a law sales because if you weren’t ready, a customer can say, “No, we want to do business with you,” and I’ve seen that happen or worse, a data breach or a class action lawsuit that we’re starting to see as well. So, definitely flexible to be able to meet the demands of a company small to big.
Lee Kantor: [00:10:21] Now, has this pandemic made companies more vulnerable? I would imagine more people are online now. Are you more vulnerable just because people are kind of taking advantage of the pandemic?
Jodi Daniels: [00:10:35] So, companies are certainly more vulnerable because you have, literally, the globe working from home. And what that’s done is you’ve now taken a potentially company data on a personal device that you might not have had all the strong security measures that you had on your work machine now or environment now that are at home. You are also using your Zoom or other conference materials more often. So, I might even, by accident, share the wrong screen. You might have children sharing a laptop where, oops, by accident, they send the information that they shouldn’t have as they were trying to get to their program. You don’t have as many of the security patches that are often on a machine also being used. And even just how people are getting to company information. They might not have quite as many layers.
Jodi Daniels: [00:11:30] So, it is absolutely in that environment that’s kind of right for data breaches, which is why the phishing emails, which are so easy for bad actors to do and people are vulnerable right now where we want information. We’re craving to help other people. And someone can create a really great email, I click on it, and now that’s what’s happened. So, we expect to see data breaches and announcements kind of rise in the next couple months. It takes kind of a couple months for the activity to happen, and then for companies to notice it. So, I think, the second half of the year, you’re going to start realizing, “Oh, gosh, data breaches happen during this particular time.”
Lee Kantor: [00:12:13] Now, how has that COVID-19 crisis impacted Red Clover Advisors?
Jodi Daniels: [00:12:22] So, for us, we’re helping companies a lot on what I call kind of a remote working policy. So, everything I just described is really important that companies have a policy. What is okay for you to get to? And what should we have as a VPN or a strong password? And how will we make sure that computers have the right patches and the right security software on them? So, we’re helping companies manage the remote work policies, helping educate on phishing emails, and the communication, and kind of overall privacy and security training, certain things like that.
Jodi Daniels: [00:12:59] And then, with the CCPA, as I mentioned, that’s that new California Consumer Law, privacy law, it becomes enforced. Enforcement begins in July. So, right now, companies are still kind of getting all their final pieces, if you will, ready, to be ready for enforcement. Some companies are still just getting started. Some people are on different levels of the journey. And we’re here to support them wherever they are. So, we’re still busy helping companies protect themselves because, again, prevention is so much less expensive than a data breach. And data breach can be a couple hundred dollars per record. Now, if you have thousands of records, that can be really expensive. Not to mention, it distracts you from your core business. And we all want to make sure that we’re focused on our core business and ensuring revenue during this time.
Lee Kantor: [00:13:48] Now, talk about your involvement with GWBC. How did that come about? And how has it impacted your business?
Jodi Daniels: [00:13:57] About just under two years ago, I attended an information session that explains the benefits and the process of being a certified women business. And after that, I went through the process. And so, I just received my second certification. So, I guess, I did it kind of spring of 2020. So, my first one was spring 2019. Now, 2020. And I’ve always been a big supporter of women-owned businesses supporting other women. So, when I go out in the marketplace, I do believe that it’s helpful. People like to know and support other certain groups and especially, I think, helping women in businesses. So, I’m very proud. I have it on my signature that we are a certified women’s business.
Lee Kantor: [00:14:47] Has it helped to kind of penetrate some of these larger firms?
Jodi Daniels: [00:14:53] I think it definitely helps in in certain situations where if I was being compared to other firms, they really want to help the [1], one small business and [2], a women-owned business. So, I definitely see a value, which is why I went through and did the certification for a second year. And I’ve also communicated to other people about what this process is and why they should go through it. And so, sort of privately, I’ve been a champion of it on this side because, again, I believe it’s valuable information that they provide, it’s how we got connected here today, and it’s just an opportunity. I believe that businesses should take advantage of it, and it’s a good program.
Lee Kantor: [00:15:36] Now, if somebody wanted to learn more about Red Clover Advisors or have more substantive conversation, or maybe even if they just want to learn more about the CCPA, the new ruling that’s coming into effect, is there a website they can go to get more information?
Jodi Daniels: [00:15:53] Yes. if they go to redcloveradvisors.com, and actually slash CCPA, there’s a wealth of information. We have all kinds of articles, and blogs, and whitepapers and e-book, lots of information to help get started on understanding what the privacy laws are. And then, at any time can also find me. Just jodi@redcloveradvisors.com.
Lee Kantor: [00:16:20] Good stuff. Jodi. Well, thank you so much for doing what you’re doing and helping businesses stay safe and stay compliant. And thank you for sharing your story here today.
Jodi Daniels: [00:16:30] Thank you again for the opportunity. It’s been a pleasure.
Lee Kantor: [00:16:34] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We will see you all next time on GWBC Radio.
About Your Host
Roz Lewis is President & CEO – Greater Women’s Business Council (GWBC®), a regional partner organization of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) and a member of the WBENC Board of Directors.
Previous career roles at Delta Air Lines included Flight Attendant, In-Flight Supervisor and Program Manager, Corporate Supplier Diversity.
During her career she has received numerous awards and accolades. Most notable: Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 2018 Diversity & Inclusion award; 2017 inducted into the WBE Hall of Fame by the American Institute of Diversity and Commerce and 2010 – Women Out Front Award from Georgia Tech University.
She has written and been featured in articles on GWBC® and supplier diversity for Forbes Magazine SE, Minority Business Enterprise, The Atlanta Tribune, WE- USA, Minorities and Women in Business magazines. Her quotes are published in The Girls Guide to Building a Million Dollar Business book by Susan Wilson Solovic and Guide Coaching by Ellen M. Dotts, Monique A. Honaman and Stacy L. Sollenberger. Recently, she appeared on Atlanta Business Chronicle’s BIZ on 11Alive, WXIA to talk about the importance of mentoring for women.
In 2010, Lewis was invited to the White House for Council on Women and Girls Entrepreneur Conference for the announcement of the Small Business Administration (SBA) new Women Owned Small Business Rule approved by Congress. In 2014, she was invited to the White House to participate in sessions on small business priorities and the Affordable Care Act.
Roz Lewis received her BS degree from Florida International University, Miami, FL and has the following training/certifications: Certified Purchasing Managers (CPM); Certified Professional in Supplier Diversity (CPSD), Institute for Supply Management (ISM)of Supplier Diversity and Procurement: Diversity Leadership Academy of Atlanta (DLAA), Negotiations, Supply Management Strategies and Analytical Purchasing.
Connect with Roz on LinkedIn.
About GWBC
The Greater Women’s Business Council (GWBC®) is at the forefront of redefining women business enterprises (WBEs). An increasing focus on supplier diversity means major corporations are viewing our WBEs as innovative, flexible and competitive solutions. The number of women-owned businesses is rising to reflect an increasingly diverse consumer base of women making a majority of buying decision for herself, her family and her business. 
GWBC® has partnered with dozens of major companies who are committed to providing a sustainable foundation through our guiding principles to bring education, training and the standardization of national certification to women businesses in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
