Window Snyder

About Window

• The daughter of software engineers, tech has always been in her orbit, but she wasn’t very excited about it as a child.
• Began gravitating towards programming in high school, but didn’t study it because it was intimidating; with no women in sight, it felt like an exclusive club.
• It wasn't until she started taking math and CS classes in college—and actually got to actually start problem-solving—that she realized her passion.
• As technology evolved—and the concept of hacking along with it—one question began to drive her: what’s keeping people’s data safe?
• Called to solve this question, she developed threat-modelling: a process of protecting data that became part of Microsoft’s best practices.
• Keeping data out of the wrong hands would carry her into a stint at Apple, where she ensured not even Apple could access people’s data.
• Her greatest triumph? Giving users control of their data. With personal lives increasingly stored online, she wants users—not 3rd parties—to have the reigns.
• Admits tech has hurdles; it can be exclusionary of minorities and women. It’s also just hard work—but it’s less hard when you love it.