Information Security in the Public Interest

Technologists need to understand the policy ramifications of their work and prioritize building technologies of liberty and autonomy. There is a need for more public interest technologists and a reduction of centralized control in the tech industry.

• Technologists need to understand the policy ramifications of their work and prioritize building technologies of liberty and autonomy
• There is a need for more public interest technologists and a reduction of centralized control in the tech industry
• Major policy debates of this century will have a strong tech component and technologists need to get involved
• There needs to be more diversity in the tech industry to ensure better representation of the populations using tech
• There is a need for more jobs funded at NGOs and inside government for public interest tech work
• The marketplace needs to be improved to reduce friction between those who want to do public interest tech work and those who need it done

Harvard Law School graduates are increasingly choosing to work in the public interest rather than for major law firms or corporations, but the number of computer science grads from Harvard who go into the public interest is likely zero due to the lack of an existing ecosystem. Technologists need to prioritize building technologies of liberty and autonomy, and understand the policy ramifications of their work. The tech industry needs more public interest technologists and a reduction of centralized control. Major policy debates of this century will have a strong tech component and technologists need to get involved. Diversity in the tech industry is necessary to ensure better representation of the populations using tech. More jobs funded at NGOs and inside government for public interest tech work are needed, as well as an improved marketplace to reduce friction between those who want to do public interest tech work and those who need it done.

Computer security is now a public policy issue. Election security, blockchain, "going dark," the vulnerabilities equities debate, IoT safety, data privacy, algorithmic security and fairness, critical infrastructure: these are all important public policy issues with a strong Internet security component. But while an understanding of the technology involved is fundamental to crafting good policy, there is little involvement of technologists in policy discussions. This is not sustainable. We need public-interest technologists: people from our fields helping craft policy, and working to provide security to agencies and groups working in the broader public interest. We need these people in government, at NGOs, teaching at universities, as part of the press, and inside private companies. This is increasingly critical to public safety and overall social welfare. This talk both describes the current state of public-interest technology, and offers a way forward for us individually and collectively for our field. The defining policy question of the Internet age is this: How much of our lives should be governed by technology, and under what terms? We need to be involved in that debate.