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JUNE NEWSLETTER  

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One Year After Dobbs

At the one-year mark of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, CDT President and CEO Alexandra Reeve Givens published a piece in Tech Policy Press taking stock of the current landscape for data privacy and reproductive rights ([link removed]): 

A year has passed since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. When the decision came down, the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) and other advocates quickly recognized ([link removed]) how the decision would impact data privacy, heighten surveillance of personal activities, and endanger access to information about abortion. Prosecutors and even private citizens have been empowered to pursue evidence against people seeking and providing reproductive care.

One year later, where do we stand at the intersection of tech policy and reproductive rights? While a number of states moved immediately to further restrict and criminalize abortion for millions of Americans, a few have pushed back, instituting “shield laws” to protect the privacy of abortion providers and patients who travel to another state to receive care. The Biden Administration has taken steps to protect patients’ medical records and to pursue companies that have unfair and deceptive data practices. Some companies have announced (or quietly pursued) new steps to protect people’s private health data.

But there is still a long way to go. This article lays out three priority areas where tech policy impacts reproductive rights. It takes stock of the wins to date, and the work ahead for those who wish to fight for reproductive privacy and access to reliable online information at this critical time.

READ FULL PIECE AT TECH POLICY PRESS ([link removed])

Photograph of CDT CEO Alexandra Reeve Givens testifying in the U.S. Senate on June 12. Givens wears a light gray jacket, and sits at a desk with a microphone, a name card, and water bottles in front of her.

In Case You Missed It

— On June 12, CDT CEO Alexandra Givens testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law ([link removed]) in a hearing entitled “Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights.” Givens called on policymakers to address potential harms and promote responsible innovation in AI with a focus on human rights. Her testimony focused on two distinct areas where AI harms are already being felt: the use of face recognition and biometric surveillance capabilities by law enforcement, and the impact of generative AI on elections and democratic discourse.

— June is Pride Month, and CDT stands alongside our partners ([link removed]) at this particularly important time for protecting LGBTQ+ rights. A number of state and federal bills — including the EARN IT Act ([link removed]) and the Kids’ Online Safety Act (KOSA) ([link removed]) — currently threaten the rights of LGBTQ+ people online. As CDT and allies have explained in letters to Congress, KOSA would harm the safety of the children it claims to protect by censoring vital information, enabling parental surveillance of vulnerable teens, and threatening encryption — a foundation of security and anonymity online. The EARN IT Act also poses a serious threat to encryption and free speech.

— CDT submitted comments to the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ([link removed]) on the effects of evaluating credit, criminal, and eviction record data as part of the tenant screening process. These types of data, though often unreliable and disproportionately disqualifying for socioeconomically marginalized people, are typically used to predict whether a rental applicant will pay their rent on time and whether they will pose a risk to other tenants or the landlord’s property. Our comments recommend that agencies explore new regulations and offer new guidance for both landlords and tenant screening companies to take responsibility for ensuring that tenant screening practices don’t run afoul of fair housing obligations.

—  New disclosures by the FBI confirmed the need to reform Section 702 ([link removed]) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (“FISA”) — a controversial warrantless surveillance tool set to expire at the end of this year. We now know that the FBI engaged in improper searches for Americans’ communications targeted at political activities and actors, including those of 19,000 donors to a congressional campaign, and over 100 civil rights protesters demonstrating in 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd.

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Photograph of CDT President and CEO Alexandra Reeve Givens. Wearing a patterned jacket and blue dress, seated outdoors.

CDT in the Press

— CDT President and CEO Alexandra Reeve Givens joined COX Media ([link removed]) to discuss the need for companies to better protect data following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. “Companies should be limiting their collection, limiting how long they store it for, making sure they store it safely and then having really robust mechanisms in place if law enforcement is going to ask for it or they’re going to share it with a third party,” she said

— CDT’s Emma Llansó told USA Today ([link removed]) that the EARN IT Act would likely result in measures to block certain content that sweep up legally protected LGBTQ+ content: "It comes down to deciding that filtering out words like lesbian and gay are important to do because that helps block sexual content. It may help block some searches for some kinds of pornography, but it's also going to block a lot of people just talking about themselves, their communities, and living their everyday lives."

— CDT’s Jake Laperruque spoke with The Record ([link removed]) about accountability measures touted by the FBI in its campaign to renew surveillance authority Section 702: "This, and the other items the FBI touted at the hearing felt like when McDonald's started advertising how its chicken nuggets were now all chicken meat — it's not a very appetizing pitch, and really just makes you ask 'wait, you weren't even doing that before?'"

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Graphic for CDT's 2023 Annual Benefit, Tech Prom. November 2, 2023 at The Anthem in Washington, D.C. 

CDT "in Person"

— CDT is pleased to announce our 2023 Tech Prom on Thursday, November 2, 2023, from 6:00–10:00 PM at The Anthem in Washington, D.C. You won’t want to miss it! Join fellow policymakers, educators, civil society advocates, government representatives, corporate partners, and the interested public for an evening of mixing and mingling. Learn more about the event, sponsorship opportunities, and tickets on our Tech Prom event page ([link removed]). 

— At RightsCon, the leading global summit on human rights in the digital age, prominent CEOs from the messaging app industry affirmed their commitment ([link removed]) to protecting end-to-end encryption from regulatory threats during a panel with CDT’s Chief Technology Officer Mallory Knodel.

— Have you listened to the atest episode of Tech Talk ([link removed]) yet? In the June 21 episode of CDT’s podcast, host Jamal Magby is joined by CDT’s own Alexandra Givens, President and CEO, and Jake Laperruque, Deputy Director of the Security and Surveillance Project, to dig into all the ways in which CDT has quickly sprung into action since the Dobbs decision. In the June 29 episode ([link removed]), Jamal sits down with CDT’s Andrew Crawford to explain how companies must play an active role in protecting their customers’ and users’ private information.

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Photograph of Jake Laperruque; man wearing glasses, a navy blazer, blue tie, and white button up shirt.

Staff Spotlight
Jake Laperruque ([link removed]), Deputy Director, Security and Surveillance Project

How long have you been working in digital rights? Just over ten years now, starting with a fellowship just out of law school at CDT!

What is your proudest moment while here at CDT? Getting to see our work on tech and reproductive work in the wake of Dobbs come to fruition with the passage of shield laws in several states that will help stop abortion surveillance.

What is your fandom? Wait, I can only choose one?! I love a bunch of fandoms (Lord of the Rings, Marvel, Witcher, Avatar: Last Airbender, on and on), but Star Wars is probably my favorite — it's a sci-fi world that's so futuristic and imagination-inspiring, but also because of how often everything is gritty or messy or prone to breaking feels so lived-in and real.

Cats or dogs? Again, I can only choose one?! Dogs are great, but I've always been a cat person. Love having a floofy little predator in the house.

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