Logan Arkema

Who are you? Tell us about yourself!

My name is Logan Arkema and I’m a freshly-minted Double Hoya working at the intersection of technology and policy. I’m primarily a technologist by training and at my day job. I’m also an open-source software contributor, and the sole proprietor of DCTransistor.com, a small business selling open-source LED boards of the DC Metro System. I graduated Georgetown University with a double major in Computer Science and Political Science.

Congratulations on winning this year’s Westin Award! Can you tell us the most interesting privacy issues you studied or projects you worked on at Georgetown?

Thank you! It’s always hard to pick the most interesting privacy issue I worked on at Georgetown, but I enjoyed finding ways to bring a privacy lens to the classes that weren’t focused on privacy. In my last semester, I got to write an interesting (to me at least) paper for a Week One course on Generative AI and Free Speech about how some of the technical nuances behind Privacy Enhancing Technologies may or may not be fully considered in current AI policy discussions, and how rushing to regulate without understanding AI beyond “it needs a lot of data” could lead to bad outcomes, if not First and Fourth Amendments problems for the constitutionality of those regulations. While not done at Georgetown Law, I’d also be remiss not to plug the Residue-Free Computing project I worked on with the Computer Science Department.

What drew you to Georgetown’s Master of Law and Technology (MLT) program?

Funnily enough, standing decisions over a small section of government privacy law. While doing background research for work, I came across a series of court decisions that stopped legal challenges under a small section of privacy law I was looking at from being heard on the merits. Those cases got me interested enough that I figured I’d have to go to law school to fully appreciate them. The MLT program specifically drew me in because it let me get a robust legal education without the full commitment of law school and attend a law school with an incredibly strong technology curriculum.

What has been your favorite class at Georgetown Law?

Again, hard to pick a favorite, but I would say “We’ve Been Hacked!: Strategic Responses to Data Breach” with Marc Groman. Coming from a technical incident response background to a law class dedicated to the topic was both immediately practical and a useful empathy-building exercise for when lawyers and cybersecurity professionals go into a room with very different perspectives and priorities.

What interests do you have outside of law and technology?

Games of almost any variety, but particularly tabletop roleplaying games at the moment. Dungeons & Dragons was my main weekly respite between work, class, and readings — though I’ve had to apologize to my incredible Dungeon Master more than once for bringing out the inner “rules lawyer” during gaming sessions.

The opinions expressed in this spotlight are Logan’s own and do not necessarily reflect the view of his employer.