What's on the Horizon?

By the time I arrived at the FTC I had invented technology, pursued technology business ventures, became a technology educator, researcher and scholar, worked with privacy advocacy groups, exposed technology-society clashes, and busted myths about privacy protections. I have three patents and have authored about 100 academic publications. Two federal regulations explicitly cite my work. Still, it was not until I became the Chief Technologist at the FTC that I transcended those angular perspectives to see the whole. I could see what worked, what did not, and most importantly, where opportunities for improvements exist. I can see how computer and social scientists can lead to a better tomorrow.

Latanya Sweeney, Ph.D., is a professor of government and technology at Harvard University, former Chief Technology Officer at the United States Federal Trade Commission, was a Distinguished Career Professor of Computer Science, Technology and Policy in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, and remains the Director and founder of the Data Privacy Lab. Latanya creates and uses technology to assess and solve societal, political and governance problems, and teaches others how to do the same. This year she received the distinguished Louis D. Brandeis Privacy Award from Patient Privacy Rights. Her work has also received awards from numerous other organizations, including the American Psychiatric Association, the American Medical Informatics Association, and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. The American College of Medical Informatics inducted her as a Fellow in 2006. In 2009, she was appointed to the Federal HIT Policy Committee. Dr. Sweeney received her Ph.D. in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2001, the first black woman to do so. Her undergraduate degree in computer science was from Harvard University. More information about Dr. Sweeney is available at her Web site, latanyasweeney.org