Research that connects technology to the lived experiences of people and communities.
My research focuses on the relationships between people, communities, and the technologies that shape their lives. I study privacy, surveillance, data governance, and the social and policy systems that support them.
Across my work, I aim to translate complex technological and legal questions into insights that move organizations and communities toward more just outcomes.
Explore the core areas that shape my scholarly and public interest work.
Peer Reviewed Articles
Scholarly research examining data, technology, and society.
Book Chapters
Contributions to major academic volumes on technology, ethics, and governance.
Reports and Collaborations
Applied research and strategic work with partners such as Sage Bionetworks and the Mozilla Foundation.
Deep research that helps make sense of the systems influencing our digital lives.
An Ecological Approach to Data Governance
This article proposes an ecological model of data governance that centers systems, institutions, and community impact. Forthcoming in the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics, and Public Policy (En Banc).
Sonic Privacy
This article introduces sonic privacy as a framework for understanding privacy through sound, listening, and auditory surveillance. Forthcoming in the Yale Journal of Law and Technology (2022).
Platforms as Phish Farms: Social Engineering at Scale
This article analyzes how platform design enables large-scale social engineering and phishing. Published in New Media & Society, 24(7), 1677–1694.
Insights that contribute to broader conversations about technology, ethics, and society.
Consent (Still) Won’t Save Us
This chapter critiques consent-based privacy frameworks, arguing that they obscure power, normalize surveillance, and shift responsibility onto individuals. It advances a feminist, public interest approach to privacy and data governance. Forthcoming in Feminist Media Law, edited by Meg Leta Jones and Amanda Lewandowski (2023).
Adding Complexity to Advance AI Organizational Governance Models
This chapter argues that effective AI governance must reflect the complexity of organizational systems, power, and sociotechnical relationships. It challenges simplified, compliance-driven governance models. Published in The Oxford Handbook of AI Governance, edited by Justin Bullock (2022).
Who’s Liable? Agency and Accountability in Human–Machine Communication
This chapter examines how agency, responsibility, and liability are assigned in human–machine communication. It critiques legal and policy frameworks that fail to account for distributed decision-making. Forthcoming in SAGE Handbook of Human-Machine Communication, edited by A. Guzman, R. McEwen, and S. Jones (2022).
Courses designed to help students understand technology, policy, and the people affected by both.
Blockchain for Good: Special Issue on Democracy and Civic Technology
This edited special issue examines how blockchain technologies intersect with democratic governance, civic participation, and public institutions. Published in Frontiers in Blockchain: Blockchain for Good, Volume 4 (2021).
Communicating Artificial Intelligence: Theory, Research, and Practice
This edited issue brings together interdisciplinary scholarship on how artificial intelligence is communicated, understood, and governed. Published in Communication Studies, 71(3) (2020).
Tackling Misinformation: What Researchers Could Do with Social Media Data
This collaborative article examines ethical and methodological challenges in misinformation research using social media data. Published in The Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review (2020).
Courses designed to help students understand technology, policy, and the people affected by
RTV4700: Telecommunications Law & Regulation/CGS3065: Social & Legal Issues in Computing
This senior-level undergraduate course is required of all telecommunications majors. It is a media law survey course aimed at providing students with foundational knowledge of subjects like the First Amendment, copyright, defamation, privacy, etc. I’ve now cross-listed this class with a computer science course with a goal of emphasizing teamwork, communication skills, and collaborative learning.
MMC5215: Technology Policy (formerly RTV5702: Telecommunications Regulation)
This course presents an advanced, interdisciplinary discussion of technology and information law, policy, and regulation. In examining these topics, we will emphasize the intersection of technology, economics, public policy, and human and organizational behavior with a particular emphasis on media technology. Ultimately the course investigates the justifications for, and approaches to, current law and regulation impacting the technology and information sectors. Beginning Spring 2019, this course will focus on a different specific topic each semester.
MMC6936: Communicating Privacy
I created this graduate course for Fall 2016 with the goal of both training students to effectively communicate privacy and security information, and to recognize the importance of the interdisciplinary study of these topics. This seminar requires students to work in groups to complete a privacy policy/terms of service assessment and a final research paper. Future classes will require that students complete a full paper for submission to a conference. This interdisciplinary course attracts graduate students from human-centered computing, cybersecurity, mass communication, and law. This course will soon be a permanent part of the CJC graduate course offerings. Beginning Fall 2019, this course will focus on a different specific topic each semester.
Find the work that speaks most directly to your interests and questions.
Filter publications by topic to find work most relevant to your interests
Much of my work explores how consent is often treated as a simple yes or no, even though most people do not understand the full context of what they are agreeing to. I argue that consent alone cannot carry the weight we place on it in privacy law and policy.
I approach privacy as a dynamic relationship shaped by culture, context, and power. Privacy is not just about individual rights. It is also about how institutions collect, interpret, and use information.
Sonic privacy considers how sound and audio technologies affect personal privacy. Sensors and devices can capture voices and ambient audio that reveal far more than most people realize.
My research on platforms shows that design choices can encourage harmful behaviors such as social engineering. These systems can make users more vulnerable, often without their full awareness.
Community privacy recognizes that data often affects groups, not just individuals. This idea is central to my work with organizations such as Sage Bionetworks on community consent models.
I study how institutions collect and analyze information through routine interactions, creating systems that shape opportunities and risks for different communities.
My work highlights how sensors in civic spaces collect data in ways that can track movement, behavior, and even emotional states. Communities deserve clearer information and stronger protections.
I look closely at how surveillance systems often deepen existing inequalities. Data practices can disproportionately affect people who already lack protection or power.
I focus on how automated systems interpret data, how these interpretations become policy decisions, and what this means for fairness, accountability, and community trust.
Through studies like “Platforms as Phish Farms,” I show how platform structures make surveillance and manipulation far easier, especially when combined with opaque design practices.
I view data governance as an ecosystem in which information moves through networks of institutions, technologies, and communities. This approach helps explain why context matters for policy and design.
Collaborative projects like the CHIRON Trustworthiness Calculator explore how institutions can build trust by being more transparent, accountable, and community focused.
Representation affects how systems classify people, how decisions are made, and who benefits or bears the harms. My work highlights the need for more community presence in governance processes.
Design shapes how data is collected and interpreted. My writing on design and power shows how seemingly small choices can reinforce or challenge unfair practices.
Through The Alveary, I review systems, documents, and workflows to assess risks, gaps, and opportunities for more ethical, people centered approaches.
I look at how law, regulation, and policy respond to emerging technologies, and how those responses can better support communities affected by data driven systems.
The course examines law, regulation, economics, and human behavior related to technology. Students explore how these forces shape the digital environment.
In “Prototyping Policy,” I show how visual tools and prototypes can help policymakers understand the real world effects of their decisions before they make them.
Several publications address AI literacy, community impact, and rural inclusion in AI policy. My focus is on policies that serve people who are often left out of technical systems.
Policy should prioritize fairness, community protection, consent that is meaningful, and transparency around how systems work. My research highlights where current frameworks fall short.
Start a conversation that moves the work forward
If you are exploring a project, seeking collaboration, or looking for a speaker who brings a grounded, people focused perspective to technology, feel free to reach out.
