Ethical Technologist Becca Ricks Kicks Off Mozilla’s D.R.E.A.M Speaker Series

All too many disturbing headlines remind us that we’re losing privacy and losing it fast. This new reality has people asking difficult questions about what the lack of ethics in tech means for their past, present, and future. Enter Data Rules Everything Around Me (D.R.E.A.M.), a new speaker series and public engagement forum in Chicago designed to go deep on the issues that matter to you.

The first event featured Ford-Mozilla Open Web fellow Becca Ricks, who documents how private companies are working with governments to develop surveillance technologies. She points to companies in China — where transparency and data accountability are minimal — that are designing facial detection and image recognition technology that the government is also using for surveillance.

Becca’s no joke. She’s part of a new generation of technologists and researchers who are making ethics paramount in their work. Check out this D.R.E.A.M. video featuring Becca’s work and read on below if you want to come to an upcoming D.R.E.A.M. event.


More about D.R.E.A.M.

Privacy has been pronounced dead; allegedly “free” services cost us troves of personal data; our governments know more about us than we do ourselves. No one actually “Agrees” to these “Conditions”, yet short of abandoning all modern conveniences, resistance seems futile. But fear not! There are loads of projects and people working on ways to take back our digital agency.

Facilitated by Nick Briz & Jon Satrom, Data Rules Everything Around Me (D.R.E.A.M.) is a FREE & OPEN monthly series devoted to discussing these topics. Featured writers, artists, developers and other cultural producers are invited to share their research and perspectives on the data that fuels the systems that run our world.

Go here to RSVP for an upcoming event:

  • Tara Vancil 01/31/2019
  • Melody Haase 02/28/2019
  • Diana Nucera 03/28/2019
  • Margaret Mitchell 04/25/2019

Share on Twitter