Digital Democracy: The Threat and Promise of Technology for Our Democratic Institutions

The Center for Democracy & Technology is co-sponsoring a symposium at the University of Virginia School of Law that will examine how technology is affecting democratic institutions and what the law is doing about it.

“Digital Democracy: The Threat and Promise of Technology for Democratic Institutions,” features a lineup of tech industry, government, and academic experts as well as digital and civil rights advocates.  CDT Policy Analyst Natasha Duarte will speak on discrimination and technology on the panel “Does Big Brother See Color?”  The keynote speaker is constitutional law scholar Jack M. Balkin, who founded and directs the Yale Information Society Project, edits the Balkinzaton blog, and has authored numerous books, including “The Constitution in 2020” (with Reva Siegel).

CDT is co-sponsoring the event with the student-run organization Law, Innovation, Security & Technology, with support from several other UVA Law organizations, including the Virginia Law Review. The symposium kicks off with an introduction by UVA Law School Dean Risa Goluboff and includes an author panel as well as panels on trustbusting in the internet age, the potential impact of big data to reinforce social and racial biases, and national security and the information-industrial complex.

Representatives from Amazon, Uber, the CIA, the ACLU, Lawfare, Mozilla, The Washington Post, Color of Change, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and several law schools are scheduled to speak at the event.

The conference will conclude with a networking reception.  Registration is required of symposium attendees and is free of cost.

You can find the official agenda for the full day here.