Born in Houston, Texas, Brittany Kaiser grew up in Chicago and went to high school at Phillips Academy Andover. She went on to study at Edinburgh University, before earning post-graduate degrees in international relations at The University of Edinburgh (MA with honors), an LLM in international human rights law at the University of London Birkbeck College, and an Masters in Philosophy in international law and diplomacy at Middlesex University.

A fervent advocate for progressive politics at an early age, Brittany volunteered for the presidential campaigns of Howard Dean and John Kerry, and for Barack Obama’s run for senate while still in high school. In 2007, she worked full-time for a summer in the new media team of Mr. Obama’s presidential campaign, and in 2014 she volunteered for the “Ready for Hillary” campaign, before deciding to support Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary in 2015.

Following her volunteer work for these political candidates, Brittany spent several years engaged with human rights projects around the world, including work for Amnesty International, lobbying at the United Nations and European Parliament to stop crimes against humanity, and contributing to human rights research projects in Asia and Africa.

After the fall of Gaddafi, Brittany helped establish a company to organize diplomatic conferences in Libya, including on trade and investment. Her primary motivation was to work on human rights issues in that country. In parallel, she started her PhD on preventive diplomacy, including studying the development of data-driven early-warning systems to prevent possible acts of genocide. She also began consulting to human rights barristers and political campaigns internationally.

These activities, together with her background in the Democratic party, caught the attention of Cambridge Analytica CEO Alexander Nix. He offered Brittany a job at the SCL Group, the then-parent company of Cambridge Analytica, as a business-development consultant in late 2014. Brittany quickly excelled at the company and was promoted to Director of Program Development, and then Director of Business Development in 2015. She left the company in January 2018.  

She was the only business development and salesperson to train directly under Nix. While she was not privy to all the internal machinations of Cambridge Analytica’s activities as an employee of the company, she had access to many important and sensitive documents and communications, and was witness to a significant number of key meetings.

Brittany left Cambridge Analytica in January 2018, and in April of the same year, she testified before the U.K. parliamentary investigation on Fake News by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, providing both verbal and written testimony and documents. For her parliamentary testimony, she was advised in the U.K. by leading human rights barrister Geoffrey Robertson QC and by Mark Stephens CBE, a leading data attorney. In the U.S., she is represented by attorneys Jim Walden and Amanda Senske of Walden Macht & Haran LLP. Jim is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney, who has significant experience representing whistleblowers.

Brittany Kaiser decided to become a whistleblower for two reasons. First, she wanted the truth about Cambridge Analytica and its activities to be exposed in the public domain. Second, she had come to the conclusion that the whole system of data brokerage was flawed and in contravention of fundamental human rights. When controversy about the company’s practices broke in the news, Brittany agreed to a preliminary debriefing by The Guardian in March 2018 as part of the news organization’s Cambridge Analytica Files investigation. She provided an initial selection of documents and information, which were the basis for a momentous story on Brexit, the Trump campaign, Facebook, and more.

Brittany’s experience with Cambridge Analytica has deepened her belief that people need and deserve greater rights over both the use and proceeds of their own data. She spends her time exploring ways to empower individuals to protect and take control of their digital rights, assets and identities for their own benefit.  

Throughout 2018, Brittany offered her assistance to governments and private companies in developing policies on, and programs for, data and blockchain technologies. Before meeting with The Guardian in March, she began lobbying for bills to be passed protecting digital rights, including defining digital assets as property for each individual.  To that end, she co-founded the Digital Asset Trade Association (DATA), a 501C6 lobbying non-profit. Alongside her work with DATA, Brittany acted as an expert witness and gave testimony to investigations on the data industry, big tech and elections, around the world, helping achieve landmark decisions against data abusers and achieve changes in policy for both the public and private sector.  

After her first whistleblowing interviews, Brittany started the #OwnYourData campaign, asking corporations such as Facebook to change their terms and conditions to provide transparency, opt-in and property/monetization rights over the data produced in their platforms. Brittany has joined the boards of over 10 ethical technology companies to help develop solutions that promote transparency, consent-based data sharing, data sovereignty, and cybersecurity. She has also recently joined the board of The Center for Data Privacy, which won the first case against Equifax, to help individuals protect their legal rights over their personal data and file for compensation for data breaches.

Brittany is also an author of the new book with Harper Collins, entitled “Targeted: The Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower’s Inside Story of How Big Data, Trump and Facebook Broke Democracy.” This book will hold a global non-fiction launch on October 22, 2019, and roll out across additional territories through 2020.

Brittany is considered to be an expert in the use of data, digital asset legislation, and blockchain technology. She speaks about these topics at public forums and conferences around the world to promote sustainable change and adoption of ethical principles for digital life.

Ketaki Borade works as a Research Analyst in Canalys’ Americas office. She focuses on enterprise technology, including cybersecurity, cloud computing and IT infrastructure. She is responsible for studying and analyzing go-to-market strategies and trends across the technology sector. She also contributes to the qualitative and quantitative analysis of vendors and answers client queries.

Prior to joining Canalys, Ketaki worked at MarketsandMarket for three years as a Research Analyst in the semiconductor domain, concentrating on syndicate and consulting projects for global markets.

Ketaki holds a Bachelor’s Engineering degree in Electronics and Telecommunication and a Master’s degree in Operations from Pune University, India. She was born and raised in India and speaks fluent English, Hindi and Marathi.

Alex Smith leads Canalys’ channels research department. He manages a team of analysts and consultants responsible for a comprehensive portfolio of advisory services that look into the go-to-market strategies of technology vendors and the trends affecting the global IT channel ecosystem. This portfolio of research includes the Channels Analysis services, Partner Program Analysis, Candefero research products and consultation services designed to help vendors assess, benchmark and develop their channel strategies.

Since 2007, Alex has been following the major IT sectors, including PCs, enterprise software, networking infrastructure, security, servers and storage, assessing market trends and their effect on the IT channel community. He has been one of Canalys’ key client-facing analysts, developing several research programs, and has presented at multiple industry and customer events. He is also a regular speaker at the Canalys Channels Forums. In 2012, Alex relocated from the UK to Palo Alto, California to support local clients and further develop the channels research business.

Prior to joining Canalys in 2007, Alex obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce, with a Finance Major, from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. The course focused on financial practices, including derivatives, statistical modeling and portfolio management. As part of his degree, Alex studied multiple business disciplines, including strategy, marketing, logistics and economics. Alex previously worked for an oil exploration company in Calgary, Canada as a Financial Analyst, where he supported internal business planning.

Alex has roots in both Thailand and the United Kingdom and has spent time in the Middle East and North America.

Robin Ody is an Analyst in the Channels team. He supports the company’s industry-leading Channels services, including Channels Analysis and Partner Program Analysis, and is based in Reading.

Prior to joining Canalys in 2015, Robin worked in the music business, first as a producer and recording engineer, then in marketing and content management for record labels and download stores.

He graduated Queen Mary University of London with a BSc (Hons) in Business Management. During his studies, he was part of a team providing research and consulting services, on behalf of a London business initiative pairing students and academics with local businesses. He is fluent in English and French.

Alastair Edwards is a Chief Analyst at Canalys and heads the company’s industry-leading Channels Analysis service, providing clients with expert advice on channel trends and strategies. Over the last decade he has worked with many of the largest global technology vendors, supporting the development of their go-to-market models for hardware, software and services. His expertise spans all areas of the channel, and most recently his research has focused on the changing role of partners in new ‘as-a-service’ models. He leads many of Canalys’ strategic consulting projects and is a regular presenter at industry events around the world.

Prior to joining Canalys in 2004, Alastair was the editor of pan-EMEA channel news service, IT Europa. During his six years at IT Europa, Alastair established a strong reputation as a commentator on the dynamic IT channels across EMEA. He has a wealth of experience analyzing the evolution of enterprise and consumer channels, as well as knowledge of EMEA’s diverse regional markets.

Alastair grew up and was educated in Scotland. He started his career in local journalism, before moving into the IT industry in 1998. Alastair holds an Honors Degree in Politics from the University of Exeter.

Matthew Ball leads Canalys’ global infrastructure, cloud and cybersecurity research. He analyzes the impact of converging technologies on the channel, driven by digitalization and deployment of Internet of Things, across core data center and edge computing environments. He also leads confidential consultancy projects, participates in various channel surveys, and provides clients with expert advice and analysis. He is a regular presenter at industry events, including Canalys' Channels Forums around the world, trade shows, and channel partner and customer conferences.

He created and developed the company’s highly-regarded annual Point of View, quarterly Vendor Performance Index analysis, and biannual Mergers and Acquisitions reports. He also has experience of working in multinational teams within client organizations, across countries and regions around the world.

Prior to joining Canalys in 2004, Matthew worked for three years as a research analyst at MZA, where he was responsible for a variety of activities in both the consumer and enterprise areas of the telecommunications industry, such as PBX market sizing and analysis of market share information, as well as price tracking at both a European and worldwide level.

Matthew graduated from the University of Birmingham with an Honors Degree in Geography, specializing in analytical techniques.

Rachel Lashford leads Canalys’ worldwide marketing activities, promoting the company, its global services and apps, and Canalys' partner community, Candefero.

Rachel joined Canalys in September 2000 and is now based in its EMEA office in the UK. In her previous role at Canalys, she was leading a global team of industry analysts and technology product-based services. She also worked in Singapore for nine years, leading Canalys’ APAC operations after having established the company’s first office in the region in 2006. This was followed by the opening of the Shanghai office in 2011.

Rachel presents on mobility, autonomous vehicles and emerging tech trends at various vendor and industry events as well as Canalys forums. She is widely quoted in the top-tier press, as well as appearing regularly on major news channels. She has advised clients around the world and has been involved in numerous custom projects.

Before Canalys, Rachel worked in the industrial chemicals industry, for Bayer. She graduated from Warwick University with an Honors Degree in Philosophy and participated in INSEAD’s "Leading for results" program.