PRESS RELEASE: Privacy, Cybersecurity, and Data Broker Expert Justin Sherman joins EPIC as Scholar in Residence

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Justin Sherman, a widely recognized expert in privacy, cybersecurity, and data brokers, is joining the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) as Scholar in Residence in 2025. EPIC has a long history of advocating for privacy regulation, cybersecurity safeguards, and oversight of data brokers, and Justin’s expertise will contribute enormously to that work. Justin’s research and work includes cybersecurity policy, data brokerage, advertising technologies, privacy protections for large-scale datasets, geolocation data, and emerging data analytic techniques. He provides expert witness services on litigation matters related to cybersecurity and data privacy—and pro-bono services to nonprofit, community-focused organizations.

“I’m thrilled to be joining an organization so deeply committed to rigorous, independent research and advocacy, making privacy accessible and understandable, and putting people at the privacy center. EPIC has one of the strongest track records out there of relentlessly advocating for all people’s privacy, and I look forward to collaborating with the team on a mission that’s more important now than ever,” said Justin Sherman.

Justin Sherman is the founder and CEO of Global Cyber Strategies, a Washington, DC-based research and advisory firm. He is also a distinguished fellow at Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy & Technology, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, and a contributing editor at Lawfare. He co-hosts the “Power On, Power Off’ podcast with Jenna Ruddock about technology, people, and power.

“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Justin as EPIC Scholar in Residence,” said John Davisson, EPIC Director of Litigation. “He brings tremendous expertise on many of the most pressing privacy and data security issues of the day. His tenacity in revealing and halting widespread abuses of personal information, particularly by data brokers, is and will be invaluable to EPIC’s work on behalf of the public.”

Previously, Justin was an adjunct professor and senior fellow at Duke University, where he founded and ran its research program on data brokerage and taught on cybersecurity, data privacy, and technology policy. He worked at the Tech, Law & Security Program at American University Washington College of Law, New America, and the Laboratory for Analytic Sciences, among others; held fellowships at Stanford’s Starling Lab for Data Integrity, Duke Law’s Center on Law & Technology, and Stanford’s U.S.-Russia Forum; and was an op-ed columnist for Slate Magazine and WIRED.

He has testified to both houses of Congress, spoken at the White House and United Nations, and had his work featured on HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.” He’s the author of the forthcoming book Navigating Technology and National Security, dozens of reports, and hundreds of articles in outlets such as The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, The Guardian, and The Washington Post. Justin’s contributions to EPIC’s work in 2025 already include a series of blog posts, such as: “These Pregnancy Apps May Be Sources for a Location Data Broker” and “Paying for Iris Scans: AI-Fueled Surveillance Harms.”