An Open Letter to Georgetown Students, In Response to Recent Announcements about "Generative AI" An Open Letter to Georgetown Students, In Response to Recent Announcements by the University about “Generative AI” Image source: Bibliothèque nationale de France Dear students, As you know, in …

You can read her full letter here:

In response to Georgetown University’s recent decision to give students, faculty, and staff licenses for the Google chatbot, our Executive Director Emily Tucker wrote an open letter urging students to resist the co-optation of their education by the tech industry.

Professor Kathryn Conrad ( @kconrad.bsky.social ) will provide a critical review of the implications of AI use in education including the ethical use of AI in education and the impact of AI on learning. Details and RSVP:

Georgetown’s English Dept’s annual Lacay Lecture is on “AI Resistance and Refusal in Higher Education” on April 13th at 5 pm.

Federal Agents Are Intimidating Legal Observers at Their Homes: “They Know Where You Live” Immigration authorities in Minnesota have identified legal observers by name and address, and in some cases showed up at their homes.

The Intercept published an article about immigration authorities in Minnesota intimidating peaceful, legal observers at their own homes. The article mentioned our American Dragnet report, referencing how ICE can use driver’s license data to surveil U.S. adults. Read the article here:

Read the status report here: drive.google.com/file/d/1WKFJ...

In short: all the $$ flowing to the agency goes to keeping the White House’s intimidation squad in our communities. There isn’t a penny left over for the work of democracy.

5️⃣ CBP says “its staff working on this FOIA matter are not available” due to the “funding lapse.”

4️⃣ ICE says the “lapse in government appropriations—which has affected ICE—has prevented” the agency from producing records it has ready to disclose.

3️⃣ Notably, both ICE and CBP say they can’t turn over any more records while the government remains shut down.

2️⃣ Both agencies have also delayed and refused to turn over other records.

1️⃣ More than a year and a half after we made our requests for information, we have started to receive records from both CBP and ICE, which we are analyzing (stay tuned!).

Yesterday, we filed a joint status report in the case. The 5 highlights:

To back up: in June we joined w/allies Amica Center and @aijustice.bsky.social to sue DHS over its failure to disclose information about the agency’s DNA collection program. Read the complaint here:

We’ve seen the 📷s: ICE agents (paid) looming over (unpaid) TSA agents as lines snake into airport parking lots. What you probably haven’t realized is while ICE wastes taxpayer $$ snacking in airport food courts, staff responsible for letting the public know what the agency is up to are MIA.

📢 📢 📢 TODAY: Join us for a screening of “Digital Detention” followed by a Q&A with director Carolina Sanchez Boe and Professor Denise Gilman. Register here: tinyurl.com/digitaldeten...

Why Worry About My Data If I Have Nothing To Hide? | Science Friday | WNYC Studios As ICE cracks down in Minneapolis and across the country, reporters and privacy advocates have drawn attention to how the agency is using technology: scanning people’s faces without c...

Our Faculty Advisor Laura Moy recently spoke as a guest on the Science Friday podcast to explain how ICE uses technology to track individuals via their phones. Georgetown Law Professor Moy provides key insights to how personal data can be made vulnerable to data brokers. Listen here:

Tech & Society "Digital Detention" Movie Screening Join us for a screening of Digital Detention and Q&A with Carolina Sanchez-Boe (director and producer) and Denise Gilman (Georgetown Law/UT Texas) on Thursday, March 26th at 3:00 p.m! Digital Detentio...

Join us for a discussion of the growing surveillance industry that targets immigrants and the personal and societal impacts of invasive tech.
Register here:

📢📢📢 Reminder! Next Thursday, March 26, at 3 PM we will be hosting a screening of “Digital Detention” followed by a Q&A with the director Carolina Sanchez Boe and Professor Denise Gilman, moderated by Marianna Poyares.

Top US body-camera maker reports record revenue amid Trump immigration crackdown Axon sees ‘major opportunities’ as Congress proposes $20m for ICE body cameras but data privacy experts warn of risks

Our ED Emily Tucker, was quoted in the Guardian regarding the potential capacity for DHS body camera footage to be weaponized against immigrants and their communities. To learn more about the role of Axon in supplying surveillance technologies to governments agencies like ICE, read the article here:

Academic Freedom's Uneven First Amendment Path Academic Freedom: From Professional Norm to First Amendment Right by David M. Rabban. Harvard University Press, 2024.

One of our Distinguished Fellows, Anil Kalhan reviewed David M. Rabban’s book, “Academic Freedom: From Professional Norm to First Amendment Right” in an article for Academe Magazine. Read the article here:

Tech & Society "Digital Detention" Movie Screening Join us for a screening of Digital Detention and Q&A with Carolina Sanchez-Boe (director and producer) and Denise Gilman (Georgetown Law/UT Texas) on Thursday, March 26th at 3:00 p.m! Digital Detentio...

The film centers the experiences of migrants living in Austin, Texas and explores themes of the personal and societal impacts of invasive technologies. Join us on Thursday, March 26th at 3:00 p.m! Register here:

"Digital Detention" is a documentary film unveiling a booming industry in the surveillance of immigrants through GPS monitors and facial recognition apps that turn asylum-seekers into data for profit.

The Privacy Center will be hosting a screening of "Digital Detention" and subsequent Q&A with director and producer Caroliana Sanchez-Boe and Denise Gilman (Georgetown Law/UT Texas).

On March 6, Lawfare, @georgetownprivacy.bsky.social, and
@gtowntechlaw.bsky.social marked the 40th anniversary of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act with a live event.

You can now watch a recording of this event–and read the papers prepared for the event–here:

The article, titled “The Privacy Paradox is a Misnomer: Data Under Structural Uncertainty,” can be read here:

In the Georgetown Law Technology Review, our advisory board member Ignacio Cofone published an article detailing how the privacy paradox—that people say they’re concerned for their safety but then disclose information—is actually not what it seems.

Installing Updates to ECPA Join us on Friday, March 6, from 8:30am to 2:00pm for a one-day widely attended gathering marking the 40th anniversary of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). Enacted four decades ago, EC...

Details:
📅 Friday, March 6th
🕥 8:30 AM - 2:00 PM
📍McCourt Capitol Conference Room
🖊️RSVP here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Join us for a joint event with @lawfaremedia.org and @gtowntechlaw.bsky.social, “Installing Updates to ECPA.” The event marks the 40th anniversary of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and features keynote remarks and panels from leading experts on the future of surveillance law.

An Algorithm Deemed This Nearly Blind 70-Year-Old Prisoner a “Moderate Risk.” Now He’s No Longer Eligible for Parole. A Louisiana law cedes much of the power of the parole board to an algorithm that bars thousands of prisoners from a shot at early release. Civil rights attorneys say it could disproportionately harm B...

Two months before Calvin Alexander’s parole hearing date, he was told he was no longer eligible.

Why? An algorithm had deemed the nearly blind 70-year-old, who uses a wheelchair, a “moderate risk,” barring him from speaking to the parole board.

(Published April 2025 w/ @veritenews.org)