Technology and Privacy: Kade Crockford Discusses the ACLU Liberty Project on May 17

Submitted by the Bedford Lyceum at First Parish

Kade Crockford, Director of the Technology for Liberty Project at the ACLU of Massachusetts, will speak at the Bedford Lyceum at First Parish Unitarian Universalist, Room 202, 75 The Great Road, Bedford, from 9:00-9:50am on Sunday, May 17.

Crockford researches, writes, and agitates about issues at the intersection of technology and civil liberties. She has written for the Guardian, the Nation, and The Boston Globe; has been a guest on WBUR, and has been featured in local, national, and international media as a privacy expert commenting on the latest trends in surveillance and police practices. She blogs for the ACLU at Privacy Matters, available at privacysos.org/blog. She

Her topic will be “Little Brother and Our Rights: The Fight for 21^st Century Privacy in Massachusetts.”

• License plate readers documenting where you drive, with whom, and when
• Databases at the Commonwealth Fusion Center and Boston Regional Intelligence Center, chock full of information about your private life and your associations
• Secrecy at local police departments concerning their collaboration with federal agencies like the FBI
• Massive quantities of federal funds flooding into our communities for surveillance programs and technologies

Digital technology has created a new world of possibility for government and corporate spying, but our privacy law is stuck in the 1980s. The ACLU is fighting to establish 21st century First and Fourth Amendment rights—a movement that manifests in our communities, the press, the courts, and the legislature. Learn about the state of surveillance today in the Commonwealth, and the ACLU’s efforts to bring privacy law in line with 21st century technology and police practices. Find out how you can get involved.

“Privacy can’t protect itself. But together, we can and must shape a world for our children that guarantees them the right to make use of cutting edge communication tools while maintaining meaningful privacy from suspicion less corporate and government surveillance.”

This program is free and open to the public. First Parish is a Unitarian Universalist congregation; its historic meetinghouse on Bedford Common is fully accessible using the building’s Elm Street entrance.