CDT Tech Talks

What does it take to build an open, inclusive, and trustworthy internet in a world where technological power is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few? In this episode of Tech Talks, CDT President and CEO Alexandra Givens sits down with Sally Wentworth, President and CEO of the Internet Society, to explore the challenges facing the open internet and the future of technology governance. They discuss growing threats to internet fragmentation, the rise of digital sovereignty and online walled gardens, and the challenge of protecting users’ safety without sacrificing privacy, anonymity, or encryption. They also examine emerging cybersecurity threats, the impact of AI, and the importance of defending the multistakeholder model that brings together governments, industry, civil society, and technologists to shape the internet’s future. As trust declines and technological change accelerates, can collaboration still deliver meaningful, inclusive decision-making? And what will it take to ensure that everyone — not just those with the most power and resources — has a voice in shaping the technologies that affect our lives?

Can AI ever truly be “neutral”? A new Executive Order takes aim at so-called “Woke AI,” raising constitutional concerns and surfacing big technical challenges. In this episode of Tech Talks, CDT’s Amy Winecoff, Senior Technologist, Becca Branum, Deputy Director for the Free Expression Project, and Quinn Anex-Ries, Senior Policy Analyst for the Equity in Civic Technology project, join the conversation to explore why “anti-woke AI” may be more political mirage than technical reality, and what it could mean for the future of technology, policy, and free expression. Attribution: Applause 27 seconds, Audience c. 200. Large Hall. by iainmccurdy -- https://freesound.org/s/681093/ -- License: Attribution 4.0 applause_and_whistle.flac by ondrosik -- https://freesound.org/s/187673/ -- License: Creative Commons 0

On January 27th, the Trump Administration made headlines with a controversial move to dismiss three Democratic members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), an independent agency responsible for ensuring transparency and accountability in U.S. surveillance practices. With the attempted removal of these members, including the Chair, the board now lacks a quorum and is unable to function effectively, leaving just one member behind. As the future of the board remains uncertain, it could take months for replacements to be appointed, leaving the agency non-operational for the foreseeable future. On February 24th, two of the removed members filed a lawsuit in federal court, claiming their firing was illegal. In this episode, Greg Nojeim, Senior Counsel and Director of CDT’s Security and Surveillance Project, joins us to discuss the ramifications of the Trump Administration’s actions, the legal battle ahead, and what this all means for the future of privacy and trans-Atlantic data flows.

In today’s episode, we tackle a fascinating question: What happens when an AI system deployed by a company decides to "resign"—stopping its recommendations or restricting access to its outputs? Can such actions help mitigate reputational or legal risks for organizations? To help us explore this, we’re joined by Dr. Umang Bhatt, Assistant Professor and Faculty Fellow at the Center for Data Science at New York University, CDT Non-Resident Fellow, and co-author of the paper When Should Algorithms Resign?: A Proposal for AI Governance, which delves into this thought-provoking concept.

AI chatbots have quickly taken the world by storm with more people than ever integrating them into their daily lives. Many are familiar with the big name chatbots that can write recipes as Shakespearean poems or summarize obscure topics. But one type of chatbot, AI romantic companions, are less known despite the fact that they fill an especially personal role for their users. For these users, the chatbot developers’ data privacy practices are critical, yet many lack mature privacy and security protocols, leaving users’ most vulnerable data, such as health details, unprotected. ​​ Here to talk about these AI companion companies’ data privacy practices are Jen Caltrider, Mozilla’s *Privacy Not Included Program Director, and Michal Luria, CDT’s own Research Fellow.

New internet-based technologies have boomed with unprecedented access to data and data management tools. While this has facilitated innovation, it has also left many personal users and companies alike with limited knowledge about the uses and potential harms of their data. Balancing innovation and data privacy often requires tailored approaches, which is what the National Institute of Standards and Technology, more commonly known as NIST, attempted to address with their now highly-relied upon voluntary Privacy Framework, which offers guidance for organizations to voluntarily implement to protect data privacy and security.