Our Work
Founded in 2014, the Center on Privacy & Technology is a leader at the intersection of privacy, surveillance, and civil rights.
Latest Work
Center on Privacy & Technology at Georgetown Re-Releases 2022 Report on ICE Dragnet Surveillance Practices
The Center on Privacy & Technology at Georgetown Law re-released “American Dragnet: Data-Driven Deportation in the 21st Century,” with a new foreword in May 2025. The 2022 report was the first to quantify the scope of the surveillance operations being carried out by the federal government through Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Today, the Trump administration is using the digital surveillance apparatus the report describes to target immigrants, activists and anyone else who challenges his agenda. Emily Tucker, the Privacy Center’s Executive Director said, “Mass surveillance is fundamentally incompatible with democratic self-governance. The danger of ICE’s data dragnet is not only that individual people will be targeted, but that our ability to act together as a people will be permanently undermined.” The full press advisory is available at this link.
“Global Landscapes on Data Privacy: The Brazilian National Authority on Data Protection” event hosted by the Privacy Center
From banning Sam Altman’s “Tools for Humanity” iris-scanning crypto project, to stopping Meta from mining user data for training AI, Brazil has been a global trailblazer in issues of privacy and data protection. On April 24, the Director of the Brazilian National Authority for Data Protection, Professor Iagê Miola, joined us for a conversation about the hemispheric landscapes of data protection. Dr. Marianna Poyares, Postdoc Fritz Fellow at the Center on Privacy & Technology at Georgetown Law moderated.
Privacy Center quoted in NBC4 piece on NIH plans to build database
Associate Emerald Tse was featured in an NBC4 piece about the NIH's plans to build a database of federal and commercial health records. "We know that health information is incredibly sensitive," Tse said. "When people go to their healthcare provider, they're giving up that information because they have to in order to receive a service."
Privacy Center quoted in Mother Jones piece about ICE and FBI use of face recognition at the border
Executive Director Emily Tucker was quoted in a Mother Jones article detailing how ICE and the FBI are using Clearview AI tech for facial recognition at the border. “All of the evidence we have is that [Clearview] is a corporation that cares not at all about civil rights and that their founders have a potentially ideological agenda inconsistent with democracy,” Tucker said.
“Watching the Watchers: Immigration, Surveillance, and the Law” event hosted by American Constitution Society
Associate Emerald Tse was a panelist for "Watching the Watchers: Immigration, Surveillance, and the Law," an event hosted by the student organization American Constitution Society. Emerald framed the discussion by sharing with students the history of surveillance and technology in the US immigration system, while other panelists focused on methods of oversight and legal challenges.
Privacy Center Fritz Fellow presented at 2025 STS Hub “Diffracting the Critical”
Dr. Marianna Poyares was one of the panelists of the 2025 STS Hub, taking place at the Humboldt Universität in Berlin March 11 - 14. Her presentation "The border at the center: why a critical STS must grapple with border enforcement" argues that new technologies of border and immigration enforcement consist of some of the most extreme forms of surveillance and data extraction, disregarding individual and human rights protections, as they operate within the normative equivalent of a state of exception.
“When AI Eats the Manager” event co-sponsored by Privacy Center and Fairwork
The Privacy Center co-sponsored a launch event with Fairwork for their new report "When AI Eats the Manager." The event featured speakers Veena Dubal (University of California, Irvine), Mark Graham (University of Oxford), David Seligman (Towards Justice), Funda Ustek Spilda (King’s College, London), and Katie J. Wells (Groundwork Collaborative) who discussed the reports findings.
“The Impact of AI on Students, Education, and Privacy” Black History Month event hosted by Honey Brown Hope Foundation
Senior Associate Clarence Okoh spoke at Black History Event titled "The Impact of AI on Students, Education, and Privacy" focused on technology and racial justice at the Houston Community College and hosted by the Honey Brown Hope Foundation and the NOTICE Coalition's No Data About Us Without Us Fellowship Program.
The Privacy Center at the Center & Institutes open house at Georgetown Law
The Privacy Center attended the Georgetown Law Center Centers & Institutes Open House event, an annual event for current students that showcases the work of the Law Center's Centers & Institutes. The Privacy Center had a table at the event and spoke with students about the Privacy Center's work and how to get involved.
“Seeking the Good and the Real in An Algorithmic Age” event hosted by the Privacy Center
On February 20, 2025 the Privacy Center hosted an event titled "Seeking the Good and the Real in an Algorithmic Age" which featured a conversation between Privacy Center Advisor Board member Antón Barba-Kay and Lowry Pressly. The two discussed their recent books: A Web of Our Own Making: The Nature of Digital Formation and The Right to Oblivion: Privacy and the Good Life, by Barba-Kay and Pressly respectively.