Latanya Sweeney

Latanya Sweeney

Latanya is a professor of government and technology in residence at Harvard University. She’s also the Editor-in-­Chief of Technology Science and the director and founder of the Data Privacy Lab. She earned her Ph.D. in computer science from MIT in 2001, being the first black woman to do so, and her undergraduate degree in computer science from Harvard University. She is a former Chief Technology Officer at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, and a Distinguished Career Professor of Computer Science, Technology and Policy at Carnegie Mellon University.

Latanya holds three patents, has authored more than 100 academic publications, and her work is explicitly cited in two U.S. regulations, including the U.S. federal medical privacy regulation (known as HIPAA). She is a recipient of the prestigious Louis D. Brandeis Privacy Award and the American Psychiatric Association’s Privacy Advocacy Award. She is an elected fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics and has testified before government bodies worldwide. Latanya creates and uses technology to assess and solve societal, political and governance problems, and teaches others how to do the same.

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