At the heart of the Digital Rights Project is a belief that technology must be used and regulated in a manner that respects the dignity of the user. As technology becomes increasingly ubiquitous, novel questions over how to respect civil liberties in the information age have emerged. Should law enforcement surveillance technology be equipped with facial recognition? Can government officials legally block users from following them on Twitter, and can Twitter legally restrict the speech of government officials? How can we examine and work to dismantle the racist logics underpinning surveillance technologies?
The Digital Rights Project gives Berkeley Law students an opportunity to address some of these questions and to conduct substantive work at the intersection of law, technology, and social justice. DRP is committed to doing this work through a lens that acknowledges and addresses the impacts of racism and systemic inequality on surveillance and technology. Our organization engages in legal research and community advocacy where law, technology, and social justice intersect. Our work is underpinned by the belief that privacy is a fundamental right and a desire to unearth how race, class, and power are implicated in government and corporate surveillance. It will provide a space to interrogate how the history, development, and implementation of surveillance technologies impact the communities we work with and the work that we do
Students in DRP will work directly with the ACLU of Northern California’s Technology and Civil Liberties team on projects involving legal research and writing and community advocacy. Students will also be working with the citizen’s coalition Oakland Privacy, a local organization focused on privacy and surveillance reform through advocacy, education, and research. For both organizations, students will work on civil rights issues related to reproductive rights, surveillance technology, and data privacy. Students will conduct research, participate in trainings, and engage in community outreach projects – including the chance to draft legislation and advocate for its passage by local governments. There will be an opportunity for students to choose between multiple projects depending on members’ interests and the needs of our partner organizations.
Supervision: Students will receive training and be supervised by attorneys at the ACLU of Northern California.
Time Commitment: 2-3 hours per week. This includes an initial training with the ACLU and potentially with the other organizations; weekly lunch meetings; time spent independently identifying cases, monitoring legislation, and conducting research for ongoing litigation; and supporting community trainings during the semester. We will be available during weekly office hours to answer questions and work as a group on Fridays as well.
For more information, please contact the student leaders at digitalrightsproject@law.berkeley.edu.