08-16, 12:00–13:50 (US/Eastern), Marillac Auditorium
This year, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) will be returning to HOPE for a special “Ask the EFF” panel to address some of the pressing questions the hacker community has in these troubled times. Panelists will provide updates on current EFF work, including the ongoing case against the “Department” of Government Oversight, educating the public on their digital rights, organizing communities to resist ongoing government surveillance, and more. The panel will then turn it over to attendees to pose questions and receive insights on how users can protect their civil liberties online during an increasingly volatile political and world situation.
Lena Cohen is a staff technologist with EFF primarily focused on developing Privacy Badger - a browser extension used by over three million people to stop companies from tracking their activity as they browse the web. At EFF, Lena also works on issues of commercial surveillance, the data broker industry, and consumer privacy. Lena holds a degree in computer science and science, technology, and society from Brown University.
Cara Gagliano is a senior staff attorney with EFF. Her practice focuses on trademark, copyright, and free speech issues, especially helping fight attempts to use IP law to silence activists, artists, and critics. She also works on EFF’s Coders’ Rights Project, assisting programmers, developers, and researchers who are helping to build a safer future for us all. Across her work, Cara takes a particular interest in cases supporting the rights of incarcerated people. Cara came to EFF from O’Melveny & Myers LLP, where she focused on trademark litigation and a pro bono docket centered on constitutional rights. Cara holds a J.D. from New York University, where she’s an alumna of the Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Program, and a B.A. in linguistics from Northwestern University.
José Martinez is a senior grassroots advocacy organizer and is a longtime trainer and agitator. You may remember him from such workshops as “How Not to Talk to Law Enforcement” and “Grand Jury Resistance for the Soul.”