Public Interest Tech Law and Policy: A Viable and Growing Career Path

While it’s true that the tech industry has immense control in the current political climate and offer many financially appealing jobs, there is a growing and urgent necessity for energy and legal skills to advocate for the average person in the digital age. Whether it’s working in a variety of government roles, as part of housing or immigration work, at a civil society organization, in political activism, or influencing better behavior from inside some companies, there is an opportunity and sometimes an obligation to engage in tech policy work. The widespread abuse of data and use of AI in nearly every sector demands legislative, regulatory, and legal intervention work by people with public interest as their north star. Wasserstein Fellow Ben Winters will talk about his roles in academia, government, civil society, and political groups – furthermore, he will provide a survey of job paths available for people who want to explicitly focus on tech policy as well as people looking to integrate it into any work they plan on doing. He’ll also discuss the challenges and opportunities of working on the less resourced side.

Lunch provided. Please RSVP below. Open to the HLS community.

Ben Winters is the Director of AI and Privacy at the Consumer Federation of America. Ben leads CFA’s advocacy efforts related to data privacy and automated systems and works with subject matter experts throughout CFA to integrate concerns about privacy and AI in order to better advocate for consumers. Ben is also an adjunct professor at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. Prior to CFA, Ben worked at the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, where he was an Attorney Advisor in the policy section focusing on algorithmic harm in the civil rights context and was Senior Counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) where he led the AI/Human Rights project and advocated for accountability through legislative and direct legal action.