Our Work
Founded in 2014, the Center on Privacy & Technology is a leader at the intersection of privacy, surveillance, and civil rights.
Latest Work
Contribution to “Digitizing the School to Prison Pipeline” report
Senior Associate Clarence Okoh was a contributor to a recent report, Digitizing the School to Prison Pipeline: Pasco County's At-Risk Youth Program. The report was published by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and provides a civil rights analysis of the criteria used in a school-based predictive policing program in Pasco County, Florida. The report is the latest in the longstanding advocacy of the PASCO Coalition of which Clarence is a founding member, strategist and coordinator.
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.
“Our remarks from a White House meeting on international human rights treaty compliance” blog
In 2023, dozens of organizations submitted reports to the Human Rights Committee documenting serious deficiencies in the U.S.’s compliance with the requirements of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. On behalf of the coalition’s working group on privacy, freedom of expression, assembly and association, Director of Research and Advocacy Stevie Glaberson spoke at a White House meeting to cover all of the concerns of all 25 working group members. You can read the full text of her remarks, prepared together with partners at The Center for Constitutional Rights, Asian Law Caucus, UC Irvine School of Law, and input from the full working group, at our blog.
Distinguished Fellows Announced
The Privacy Center announced three new Distinguished Fellows: Antón Barba-Kay, Anil Kalhan, Justin Sherman who will have a formal working relationship with the Center during the duration of their fellowship.
Op-Ed in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Justice Fellow Emerald Tse wrote an op-ed highlighting a bill moving through the Pennsylvania legislature (SB 988) that would expand DNA collection by law enforcement, and its implications for state residents as well as people across the country. Drawing on the Privacy's Center's findings in "Raiding the Genome," she argues, "This proposal is part of a national push to increase government access to the DNA of as many people as possible." Following publication of this op-ed, the bill failed to move out of the PA's Senate Judiciary Committee and ultimately died by the end of legislative session.
New Tech, Old Story: How Understanding the History of Worker Surveillance Should Inform Policies and Regulation
In conjunction with Tech & Society Week 2024, the Center on Privacy & Technology co-hosted the “New Tech, Old Story: How Understanding the History of Worker Surveillance Should Inform Policies and Regulation” with United for Respect and the Athena Coalition. The panelists, EEOC General Counsel Karla Gilbride, founder and Executive Director of the Missouri Workers Center Jeremy Al-Haj, and the Center on Privacy and Technology’s Distinguished Fellow Gabrielle Rejouis, discussed how contemporary workplace surveillance policies are repeating patterns from the past. Each panelist outlined how worker surveillance has evolved from slavery to the post-pandemic workplace and how understanding this history can empower people to seek impactful change in workplace surveillance practices.
“The Past is Here: How Historical Workplace Surveillance Practices Show Up Today” blog
On April 10, 2024, the Center on Privacy & Technology co-hosted a panel with United for Respect, and the Athena Coalition in which the panelists illustrated, through stories like the one above, how contemporary workplace surveillance policies are repeating patterns from the past. Justice Fellow Brandon McClain summarized four key takeaways on our blog. Read the whole blog here.
Distinguished Fellow Gabrielle Rejouis Joins Data & Society’s 2024 Affiliate Class
Distinguished Fellow Gabrielle Rejouis was selected to join Data & Society's 2024 Affiliate class. She will continue collaborating with the Labor Futures program at Data & Society.
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.