“Breakup up big tech” or “Secure the elections” are national news headlines. Privacy, cybersecurity, and digital rights are critical issues being discussed by lawmakers. Technologies like facial recognition, machine learning, and cloud computing are at the core of almost every one of these issues, however Congress lacks the in-house technical expertise it needs to help inform the discussions leading to new policies and laws. Of the 3500 legislative staff in Congress, there are exactly seven that have an actionable technology background. IT professionals and security researchers can help bridge the gap between government and the technology community by tapping into the tech policy API to become a voice for informed change within the legislative process to help prevent unintended consequences before it’s too late.
Maurice Turner is Senior Technologist at the Center for Democracy & Technology, a Washington, DC-based non-profit advocacy organization dedicated to ensuring the internet remains open, innovative and free. Supporting work across all of CDT’s programmatic areas, Turner focuses on the Election Security and Privacy Project identifying and updating election cybersecurity practices and infrastructure, and working through potential remedies. Turner brings a unique mix of formal education and practical work experience in technology and local, regional, and national policymaking to the Internet Architecture team. After receiving a bachelor’s in political science from Cal State Fullerton, he went on to earn a master’s in public administration from the University of Southern California focusing on emerging communication technologies, privacy, and civic engagement. In addition, he holds a graduate certificate in cybersecurity strategy from Georgetown University, and has nearly a decade of municipal management experience complemented by numerous private-sector technology positions, fellowships, and internships.
Dr Katherine Pratt received her B.S. in aerospace engineering from MIT in 2008, and her PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) from the University of Washington (UW) in 2019. During undergrad she completed several internships with the private space venture Blue Origin, working in systems and propulsion engineering. She has served four years in the United States Air Force, working primarily as an operational flight test engineer on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Her doctoral dissertation focused on the privacy, ethics, and policy of information derived from elicited neural signals. She was the recipient of a NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and the 2018-19 UW ECE Irene Peden Endowed Fellowship. During graduate school she interned with the ACLU of Washington through the Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. She also completed a six month fellowship as the first Congressional Innovation Scholar through Tech Congress where she crafted technology policy and legislation.