I saw from an early age the power of technology to either disrupt or augment systems of control. As a twelve-year-old, my two biggest pastimes were tinkering with computers and protesting against the NYPD. Public Interest Technology has been a focus of mine since long before I knew the term. How did you get into the field of Public Interest Technology (PIT)? It was then that I found my way to my passion in public interest law, first working at a Muslim civil rights organization at the start of the Trump presidency, finding renewed meaning in the interfaith activism I had first pursued as a teenager.Īnd a couple years later I took my next big leap, leaving to found my own organization, convinced that seemingly esoteric surveillance issues could resonate with a much broader audience. In law school I was very fortunate, transferring after my first year, and securing a spot at a top law firm…which I soon quit. A mediocre college student, I struggled in the job market after college, never able to land quite the role I sought. I’m so grateful to have the role that I have today, but it often feels like it defies reason that I’m here. I got here through luck, happenstance, and shear absurdity. I wrote op-eds about novel police abuses and had the chance to speak, lecture, and present on nearly every aspect of this work. We campaigned against legal structures like geofence and keyword warrants. Lately, our projects included campaigns to outlaw technologies like facial recognition and police drones. It’s not, and our work proves that we can stop the future so many fear. is my dream job, convening a community of activists, technologists, and lawyers fighting back against the tech that so many insist is inevitable. And every day I get to fight back, whether it’s through litigation, legislation, education, coalition building, or working with the press. What does your work look like, and what have you been working on lately?Įvery day brings a new dystopian challenge, whether it’s a once unfathomable technology being secretly rolled out in our neighborhoods in the dead of night, or existing technologies used in new and misguided ways in plain sight.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |