Joan Wrabetz

Founding Partner

Joan Wrabetz is the founding partner of Panopticon Privacy Law PC, a boutique privacy litigation firm dedicated to enforcing consumer privacy rights and holding online companies accountable for unlawful data practices. Joan's work blends deep technical fluency with legal strategy, leveraging cutting-edge technology and rigorous analysis to identify, investigate, and prosecute systemic privacy violations affecting millions of users.

Education and Expertise

Joan's unique career trajectory integrates engineering, technology leadership, and law. She holds advanced degrees in Engineering (from Yale and Stanford), Management (from UC Berkeley), and Law (from Santa Clara University Law School), equipping her with the analytical rigor to understand and challenge the complex systems that power today's digital economy. Her multidisciplinary background enables her to translate technical concepts into compelling legal arguments and innovative litigation strategies in areas such as web tracking, behavioral advertising, and data aggregation.

Career and Leadership

Before founding Panopticon, Joan built a distinguished career at the convergence of technology and privacy. She held started companies and senior executive roles in enterprise software and cloud computing, where she worked on product strategy, technology integration, and AI-enabled systems. Joan also co-founded Trust360, a privacy consulting firm that guided technology companies and startups on data protection compliance, risk assessment, and secure design practices, helping clients navigate evolving privacy frameworks long before they became mainstream.

Technical Innovation

Joan's technical expertise is further demonstrated through her patents in distributed systems and machine learning reflecting her hands-on innovation in the field. Her work in artificial intelligence spans both technical development and ethical/legal analysis, particularly as AI systems are increasingly used to process and profile personal information. She brings this perspective to her litigation practice, challenging uses of AI and automated data practices that infringe on individual privacy and consumer protections.

Thought Leadership

As a privacy litigator, Joan is a recognized thought leader. She frequently writes and speaks on the intersection of law, technology, and data privacy, and her insights have informed litigation strategy, regulatory debate, and industry best practices. She is particularly known for her work using technical tools to surface evidence of unlawful tracking and data sharing, including cookie and device analysis, network forensic captures, and automated discovery processes tailored to privacy violations.

Mission and Approach

At Panopticon Privacy Law, Joan leads the firm's mission to combine legal advocacy with technological innovation, representing consumers in high-impact cases that challenge data exploitation and expand the boundaries of privacy enforcement. Her approach centers on empowering individuals and communities while promoting transparency and accountability in digital platforms.