Professor Daniel J. Weitzner is the director of the MIT Internet Policy Research Initiative and principal research scientist at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab CSAIL. He teaches Internet public policy in MIT's Computer Science Department. His research includes development of accountable systems architectures to enable the Web to be more responsive to policy requirements.

Online privacy

Weitzner is an expert in online privacy who has had significant impact in the field. He served as the Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the United States from 2011 to 2012, where he focused on Internet policy and privacy. During his tenure as a White House technology official, he oversaw a consumer privacy initiative and was primarily responsible for the creation of the

Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights Do Not Track legislation protects users’ right to choose whether or not they want to be tracked by third-party websites. It is often called the online version of " Do Not Call". The legislation is supported by privacy advocates and opposed by a ...

and the OECD Internet Policymaking Principles Weitzner and several colleagues wrote the Information Accountability paper, which proposed an alternative approach to information policy where individuals and institutions determine for themselves the way information about them is used lawfully and appropriately by others. Weitzner co-directs the Decentralized Information Group

Tim Berners-Lee Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee (born 8 June 1955), also known as TimBL, is an English computer scientist best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web. He is a Professorial Fellow of Computer Science at the University of Oxford and a profe ...

and is heading a new, cross-MIT research initiative:

MIT Internet Policy Research Initiative The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the mo ...

funded by the

Hewlett Foundation The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, commonly known as the Hewlett Foundation, is a private foundation, established by Hewlett-Packard cofounder William Redington Hewlett and his wife Flora Lamson Hewlett in 1966. The Hewlett Foundation ...

. He facilitated discussions and workshops on technology issues such as artificial intelligence (AI) and encryption. Weitzner's background in the area of privacy and policy includes his work as a founder of the

Center for Democracy and Technology Centre for Democracy & Technology (CDT) is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organisation that advocates for digital rights and freedom of expression. CDT seeks to promote legislation that enables individuals to use the internet for p ...

and a stint as the Deputy Policy Director of the

Electronic Frontier Foundation The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet ...

. He is also Founding member, Director and Trustee of the Web Science Trust.

Education

Weitzner has a law degree from

Buffalo Law School Buffalo most commonly refers to: * Bubalina, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York Buffalo or buffaloes may also refer to: Animals * Bubalina, a subtribe of the tr ...

and a B.A. in Philosophy from

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a private liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeducational colleges in the United States. It was established as ...

. His writings have appeared in

Science magazine ''Science'', also widely referred to as ''Science Magazine'', is the peer-reviewed academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and one of the world's top academic journals. It was first published in 1880, ...

, Yale Law Review,

Communications of the ACM ''Communications of the ACM'' is the monthly journal of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). It was established in 1958, with Saul Rosen as its first managing editor. It is sent to all ACM members. Articles are intended for readers with ...

James Hendler, Nigel Shadbolt, Wendy Hall, Tim Berners-Lee, Daniel Weitzner
Web Science: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Understanding the Web
Communications of the ACM, Vol. 51 No. 7, Pages 60-69 the Washington Post, Wired Magazine and Social Research.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weitzner, Daniel Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty Swarthmore College alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Living people MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory people