How Technology Impacts Humans

Technology designers are new policy makers. No one elected them and most people do not know their names, but the arbitrary decisions they make when producing the latest gadgets and online innovations dictate the code by which we conduct our daily lives and govern our country. As technology progresses, every democratic value and every law comes up for grabs and will likely be redefined by what technology enables or not. Privacy and security were just the first wave. In this talk, let's see how it all fits together or falls apart. 

Latanya Sweeney, Ph.D.

As a professor at Harvard University, Latanya Sweeney creates and uses technology to assess and solve societal, political and governance problems, and teaches others how to do the same. One focus area is the scientific study of technology's impact on humankind, and she is the Editor-in-Chief of the newly formed journal Technology Science. She was formerly the Chief Technology Officer at the Federal Trade Commission, an elected fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics, with almost 100 academic publications, 3 patents, explicit citations in 2 government regulations, and founded 3 company spin-offs. She has received numerous professional and academic awards, and testified before federal and international government bodies.  Professor Sweeney earned her PhD in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, being the first black woman to do so. Her undergraduate degree in computer science was completed at Harvard University. latanyasweeney.org.