Our Work
Founded in 2014, the Center on Privacy & Technology is a leader at the intersection of privacy, surveillance, and civil rights.
Latest Work
February 2, 2025 Newsletter
The Privacy Center sent out a newsletter titled "Upcoming Events" on 2/3/2025 containing information about the No, We Don't Live In A F%#*ing Simulation mini-course, Seeking the Good and the Real In an Algorithmic Age event, and a Tech & Society week preview.
Contribution to “Information Ecosystems and Troubled Democracy” report
The Observatory on Information and Democracy published their report: “Information Ecosystems and Troubled Democracy.” This extremely relevant report explores the epidemic of mis- and disinformation and how media, AI, and Big Tech all play a role in disseminating this mis- and disinformation at the cost of democracy. Co-authored by our Executive Director Emily Tucker (and Robin Mansell, Flavia Durach, Matthias Kettemann, Théophile Lenoir, Rob Procter, Gyan Tripathi), the report helps untangle how information ecosystems resulting from human decisions and actions can have disastrous consequences for democracy.
Privacy Center Hosts Sixth “Color of Surveillance” Conference
On November 18, 2024, the Privacy Center co-hosted "The Color of Surveillance: Surveillance / Resistance" with the Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research (DAIR) Institute. This conference convening leaders in the fight for justice in the digital age, who reflected on their experiences with resistance during four plenary sessions and an evening experimental opera performance. Read the full press advisory.
“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.
Distinguished Fellow Gabrielle Rejouis Quoted In InformationWeek
Distinguished Fellow Gabrielle Rejouis was quoted in InformationWeek article "What Is the Future of AI-Driven Employee Monitoring?” She raised concerns about how electronic monitoring can interfere with worker organizing.
Distinguished Fellow Gabrielle Rejouis Speaks at Outbraving Summit
Distinguished Fellow Gabrielle Rejouis spoke on "Black Political Economy, Capital Racism and Technology (Economic & Legal)" panel at Outbraving Summit. On the panel, she spoke about why privacy and algorithmic accountability policies should not be separated. She also discussed why regulations for workplace technology should address the impact of surveillance rather than focus on the technology used.
“Shadow Report to the US AI Policy Roadmap”
The Center signed on to coalition report, along with 39 others, that aimed to combat the inaccurate way in which the Senate positioned their roadmap as a starting point for understanding AI concerns. The "Shadow Report to the US AI Policy Roadmap" points out that this process has eaten up a year of this legislative session to produce yet another roadmap that superficially namechecks issues, instead of actual progress towards enforceable law.
“The Secret Life of Data” Book Talk
The Center co-sponsored (with Georgetown Tech Law, hosted by Digital Ethics Georgetown) a book talk moderated by Professor Laura DeNardis about The Secret Life of Data by Jesse Gilbert and Aram Sinnreich. The authors and Professor DeNardis discussed data surveillance, digital forensics, and generative AI. The book explores the unpredictable ways in which data surveillance, AI, and the constant presence of algorithms impact our culture and society in the age of global networks. No matter what form and what purpose we think it's being used for, data will always have a secret life. The book was published in May 2024.
Senior Associate Cynthia Khoo on The Signal with Adam Walsh
Senior Associate Cynthia Khoo appeared on a radio show, The Signal with Adam Walsh, CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. She spoke on the civil rights implications of artificial intelligence, including bias and abuse embedded in how AI-based tools are developed and deployed. Cynthia also emphasized factors that regulators should keep in mind when assessing the potential benefits and harms of AI, including: who is disproportionately harmed; false advertising of AI hiding human workers; and avoiding technosolutionism. Her interview was played on air for comment by the NL Information and Privacy Commissioner.
AI Worker Letter to Chuck Schumer
The Center signed onto a joint letter alongside 23 workers' rights, civil rights, and other civil society organizations calling on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to center workers and protect their rights in his efforts to address advances in artificial intelligence, such as through his "AI Insight Forum" series, which have to date featured a disproportionate concentration of industry representatives compared to civil society, civil rights, or workers' rights representatives. The letter presents several recommendations and calls on Senator Schumer and Congress to "develop a new generation of economic policies and labor rights to prevent corporations like Amazon from leveraging tech-driven worker exploitation into profit and outcompeting rivals by taking the low road".