Our Work
Founded in 2014, the Center on Privacy & Technology is a leader at the intersection of privacy, surveillance, and civil rights.
Latest Work
“A crypto coin for your privacy — how Altman promises the world in exchange for your biometric data” blog
"The political imagination of our elites raises the slogan “humanity first” only to display a barren concept of what it means to be human: to be a user, a consumer, and a source of data extraction." Our Fritz Fellow Dr. Marianna Poyares writes for our blog about Altman and Blania's World project and their Tools for Humanity retina scanning enterprise. Read the whole blog here.
Privacy Center sues Department of Homeland Security
The Privacy Center, together with Amica Center for Immigrant Rights and Americans for Immigrant Justice, filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This legal action is in reaction to DHS’s failure to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request regarding how DHS collects, stores, and uses DNA samples taken from non-citizens. Read the full press advisory.
Privacy Center quoted in Word In Black piece about school policing
Privacy Center Senior Associate Clarence Okoh was quoted in a Word In Black article titled “The Truth About School Policing.” “The consequences of policing, whether through surveillance or physical presence, yield the same outcomes. Students still face contact with the criminal legal system — it just may happen through a screen now instead of in the hallway,” said Okoh.
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.
Privacy Center Re-Releases 2022 Report on ICE Dragnet Surveillance Practices
The Privacy Center re-released "American Dragnet: Data Driven Deportation in the 21st Century," the first report to quantify the sweeping surveillance power of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). A new foreword situates the findings against the backdrop of ICE's expansive surveillance powers in the control of an increasingly authoritarian regime. Read the full press advisory.
“Sam Altman’s World: Sometimes Things Are Just What They Seem to Be” Article in Tech Policy Press
Privacy Center Executive Director, Emily Tucker, co-authored a piece in Tech Policy Press with philosopher David McNeill, warning of the dangers of Sam Altman’s new Tools for Humanity technology. Sam Altman is “nothing special,” they say. “He is the kind of person who inevitably rises in an extractivist economic system that transparently rewards those who show contempt for laws, regulations, and the people who enact them.”
Privacy Center quoted in Word In Black piece about youth surveillance
Privacy Center Senior Associate Clarence Okoh was quoted in a Word In Black article titled “Black Students Are Being Watched Under AI — and They Know It.” “The most insidious aspect of youth surveillance in schools is how it deepens and expands the presence of law enforcement in ways that were previously impossible,” said Okoh.
“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."
“Bankrupt Genetic Data: Minimizing and Privacy-Protecting Data from the Start” blog
After 23andMe filed for bankruptcy, a judge granted the genetic testing company permission to sell its data on more than 15 million customers. Distinguished Fellow Justin Sherman wrote a blog post on our site detailing what steps companies and policymakers can and should do to mitigate the risks from potential bankruptcy-data fallouts. Read the whole bl0g here.