CDT CEO Alexandra Givens’ 2022 Tech Prom Remarks

On behalf of the whole staff at CDT, welcome! We couldn’t be more excited to have you here tonight.

And what a week we picked. I expect some of you are hitting refresh on your phones waiting for news on Privacy Shield. This week, the White House released the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights. The Supreme Court granted cert in a major case about content moderation. We have a new Secretary General of the ITU. The Digital Services Act received final, final sign off. And that’s just the past few days.

We joke about being busy, but really it’s a privilege to work at a time of such focus and momentum on major tech policy questions that impact our daily lives – the lives of people not just in this room, but around the world. 

The war in Ukraine and images flooding in from Iran just this week give a vital reminder of the internet’s democratizing force – one that lets human rights defenders and ordinary people focus global attention on their cause. This year, as internet shutdowns and censorship increased globally, countries came together in a declaration for the future of an internet that is open, affordable, interoperable, and grounded in human rights. Democracies the world over are fighting to present an alternative vision to autocracy and nationalist populism. We have the opportunity – and the challenge – to advance a democratic, rights-focused vision of the internet and technology both domestically and abroad.

This work spans many areas. We must find better solutions to address the problems of online hate speech and harassment, polarization, and mis- and disinformation – while ensuring that those solutions don’t chill the expression that is so central to democracy, to empowering marginalized voices, and to a vibrant civic space. Companies are becoming smarter in the tools they can use; researchers and public interest groups in tracking and countering these online trends. Those efforts must become more connected. Now is the time for companies to dedicate greater resources, to cultivate the field of online trust & safety, to increase access for independent researchers, and to rethink transparency to improve public trust.

This work is also essential to protect our elections. For years, CDT has fought for fair and trustworthy election infrastructure. Now, democratic elections face a new crisis of trust. False claims about the administration of elections are being weaponized to undermine mail-in voting and other efforts that increase voter access, and to cast doubt on election results for political gain. Again, leaders in this room – from companies, to government officials, to researchers and civil society – can come together to boost trustworthy sources of information, counter voter suppression, increase secure access to the ballot, and ensure debates about our elections are grounded in fact.

We must also fight for privacy. In a democratic society, people need freedom to access information, find community, and enjoy the benefits of apps and maps and all technology without sacrificing their privacy to commercial interests or government surveillance. 

Domestically, the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and resulting state laws have shone fresh light on these issues. The general public has been shocked, and outraged, at news stories illustrating how much data about them is gathered, stored and shared in their daily lives. 

At the same time, there are growing examples of people’s data being used in ways that discriminate, or perpetuate existing inequalities in our society – through automated decision-making in hiring, lending, housing, and other sectors; to school monitoring of students’ online activity that has led to gay students being outed, and marked increases in students being reported to law enforcement.

These stories must be a wake up call to reform common data practices. They are a call to integrate privacy and civil rights protections into the design and deployment of all technologies, and to defend privacy-enhancing technologies like encryption. Above all, we need rules of the road to protect consumers and shape company behavior: we need Congress to pass a comprehensive privacy law. 

CDT is proud to fight for these priorities every day. We’re honored and happy to do it in partnership with all of you. For the CDT staff and alumni here, our Board, our Advisory Council, our Fellows, our Working Group members, our coalition partners, and the donors who make our work possible – we’re deeply grateful to all of you. 

Thank you all so much again for joining us on this fun evening. Now back to the Prom!