Our Work
Founded in 2014, the Center on Privacy & Technology is a leader at the intersection of privacy, surveillance, and civil rights.
Latest Work
“American Dragnet” report cited and Distinguished Fellow quoted in the New York Times
The Privacy Center's 2022 report "American Dragnet" was cited in an article in the New York Times about the technology the Trump administration could use to mobilize its immigration policy, specifically mass deportations. "Agents can obtain records of utility bills for roughly three-quarters of Americans and driver’s licenses for a third of Americans, according to a 2022 study by Georgetown University." Distinguished Fellow Justin Sherman was also quoted in the article: "Privacy harms may seem theoretical on paper, but they’re never theoretical for vulnerable people on the front lines," said Sherman.
Privacy Center report “American Dragnet” cited in The New York Times
The Privacy Center's 2022 report "American Dragnet: Data-Driven Deportation in the 21st Century" was cited in this New York Times article about the technology the Trump administration could use to mobilize its immigration policy, specifically mass deportations. "Agents can obtain records of utility bills for roughly three-quarters of Americans and driver’s licenses for a third of Americans, according to a 2022 study by Georgetown University."
“DHS Should Halt Latest Tech Investments, Due to History of Rights Violations” blog
Associate Emerald Tse wrote a blog about the Department of Homeland Security's investment in artificial intelligence. "Those technologies may have a theoretical benefit, but we can be certain about how they subvert privacy and civil rights," wrote Tse. Read the whole blog here.
New Privacy Center Report Finds Department of Homeland Security’s DNA Collection Skyrocketed 5000% in Under 4 Years
The Privacy Center published "Raiding the Genome: How the United States Government Is Abusing Its Immigration Powers to Amass DNA for Future Policing." Authored by Director of Research & Advocacy Stevie Glaberson, Associate Emerald Tse, and Executive Director Emily Tucker, the report describes and analyzes the expansion of a U.S. Department of Homeland Security program to collect DNA from nearly every person its agents detains. Read the full press release.
Telemundo Covers “Raiding the Genome”
Telemundo covered our latest report findings from "Raiding the Genome: How the United States Government Is Abusing Its Immigration Powers to Amass DNA for Future Policing" in a video piece and featured an interview (in Spanish) with report co-author and Director of Research & Advocacy Stevie Glaberson.
LA Times Covers “Raiding the Genome”
The LA Times covered our latest report findings from "Raiding the Genome: How the United States Government Is Abusing Its Immigration Powers to Amass DNA for Future Policing." In a front page article. Director of Research & Advocacy Stevie Glaberson was quoted "Even when people know what’s happening, they’re terrified to ask questions, they’re terrified to object, they’re terrified to refuse."
Tech Policy Press: Does ICE Data Surveillance Violate Human Rights Law? The Answer is Yes, and It’s Not Even Close
The Center’s Executive Director Emily Tucker and Clinical Fellow at the International Justice Clinic at UC Irvine Law co-authored a piece published in Tech Policy Press that highlights the United Nations Human Rights Committee's Concluding Observations that calls out how ICE’s surveillance practices conflict with human rights law and the right to privacy. Those observations echo our report co-written with the International Justice Clinic we submitted as part of their periodic review process.
Submission to the United Nations Human Rights Committee
The Center on Privacy & Technology and the International Justice Clinic at UC Irvine Law co-authored a report submitted to United Nations Human Rights Committee arguing that ICE’s dragnet surveillance practices amount to an egregious violation of human rights law, and of US obligations under the ICCPR, specifically under Article 17 which guarantees the right to privacy as a fundamental human right and requires that any state interference with privacy be proscribed by a specific, accessible law, necessary to pursue a legitimate purpose, and proportionate to that purpose. Our report prompted a Human Rights Committee member (Prof. Soh) to show his concern about ICE's dragnet surveillance and asked US delegates, essentially, how the US ensures ICE's practice complies with ICCPR and when the US will legislate federal data privacy law. The Committee’s Concluding Observations on the fifth periodic report of the United States of America explicitly calls out ICE for surveillance practices that conflict with human rights law. This adds international pressure on ICE to stop dragnet surveillance.
Testimony in Support of S.27: An Act to Protect Private Electronic Communication, Browsing and Other Activity
Justice Fellow Meg Foster and Director of Research & Advocacy Stevie Glaberson submitted written testimony to the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity in support of S.27, An Act to protect private electronic communication, browsing, and other activity. The bill establishes warrant and reporting requirements for electronic communication and subscriber records, as well as the use of cell site simulators. It also prohibits law enforcement from requesting, and judges from granting, reverse-location and reverse-keyword requests. The testimony focused on the disparate impact that the dragnet surveillance tools and techniques regulated in S.27 have on marginalized communities, including on their First Amendment rights.
The Intercept: LexisNexis Is Selling Personal Data to ICE
Executive Director Emily Tucker was quoted in an article in The Intercept about ICE and LexisNexis contracts: “This is really concerning,” Emily Tucker, the executive director of Georgetown Law School’s Center on Privacy and Technology, told The Intercept. Tucker compared the contract to controversial and frequently biased predictive policing software, causing heightened alarm thanks to ICE’s use of license plate databases. “Imagine if whenever a cop used PredPol to generate a ‘hot list’ the software also generated a map of the most recent movements of any vehicle associated with each person on the hot list.”