Four Leading Scholars and Advocates Join EPIC’s Advisory Board 

WASHINGTON, DC – Today the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) announced the addition of four members to its Advisory Board. Since its establishment, EPIC has looked to the expertise of leading scholars, experts, and advocates in the fields of privacy, civil liberties, and cybersecurity to guide its work. We are excited to see the expansion of this group today. 
 
“EPIC is excited to welcome four new experts to join EPIC’s fight for digital rights. These leading scholars and advocates bring deep knowledge in AI policy, technology ethics, privacy, cybersecurity, and digital surveillance. This is exactly the kind of expertise we need as technology outpaces regulation. We appreciate their insights and input as EPIC continues to tackle these important challenges ahead.” says EPIC Executive Director Alan Butler.  
 
The expertise of these new advisors will bolster EPIC’s research, advocacy, and litigation at this critical moment where we face new threats online and are focused on advancing data protection and individual rights online. The deregulatory push by President Trump’s administration has increased the need policy work at the state level on AI and data protection issues, has threatened enforcement of children’s privacy protections, and has created new risks that industry interests will be prioritized over consumer safety. These challenges underscore the urgent need for informed advocacy and rigorous oversight. 
 
EPIC is looking forward to collaborating with our new Advisory Board members, whose knowledge and experience will help guide our efforts to educate the public and strengthen protections for privacy and civil liberties in an increasingly complex digital landscape. 
 

The new members are:  

• Julia Lane – Julia Lane is a tenured full Professor at the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. She was a senior advisor in the Office of the Federal CIO at the White House, supporting the implementation of the Federal Data Strategy. She recently served on the Advisory Committee on Data for Evidence Building and the National AI Research Resources Task Force and currently serves on the Secretary of Labor’s Workforce Innovation Advisory Committee and the National Science Foundation’s Advisory Committee on Cyberinfrastructure. 

• Chris Gilliard – Chris Gilliard, PhD, is a writer, professor, and speaker whose scholarship examines digital privacy, surveillance, and the intersections of race, class, and technology. Dr. Gilliard is currently a member of the UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry Scholars Council and Surveillance Technology Oversight Project community advisory board and the Co-director of the Critical Internet Studies Institute.  

• Sharrona Pearl – Sharrona Pearl is the Andrews Endowed Chair of Interdisciplinary Studies at TCU. Pearl has published widely on Victorian history of medicine, media and religion, and critical race, gender, and disability studies. Her current research explores face recognition technology and AI ethics, as well as a project on genetic markers of cancer. 

• Kate Starbird – Kate Starbird is a Professor at the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering at the University of Washington. Kate’s research program looks at toxic online spaces that are increasingly (re)shaping discourse, values, and politics, focusing on developing and deploying methods to help resolve rumors as they unfold. Her most recent research has looked at right-wing media as effectively leveraging partisan, participatory dynamics through improvisational performances. 

With the guidance of these new members, EPIC looks forward to continuing its important work to promote transparency in government and protect privacy and civil liberties in the modern age.   

###

About EPIC 

EPIC was established in 1994 to protect privacy, freedom of expression, and democratic values in the information age. Our mission is to secure the fundamental right to privacy in the digital age for all people through advocacy, research, and litigation. EPIC pursues a wide range of program activities, including litigating cases on emerging privacy issues, obtaining and publishing records to lift the veil on government data collection, providing expert advice to policymakers and lawmakers, and facilitating dialogue between advocates, experts, and decision makers. EPIC is an independent organization guided by its Board of Directors and Advisory Board, which are composed of experts in law, technology, and public policy. Visit epic.org for more information. 

References