Gripping Talk On Data and Privacy with Investigative Journalist Byron Tau

Do not miss our exclusive luncheon featuring investigative journalist Byron Tau, author of Means of Control. Tau will lead a gripping discussion, diving into how authorities and others don’t need AI or warrants when anyone can inform on you.

Tau’s new book tells how governments and “everyone” can increasingly use data available for sale from data brokers and other commercial entities to do surveillance that once required a warrant or legal process.

A prominent SE BENS member will also share his story of his experience.

The “vacuuming up of personal data by Facebook, Google and others feeds the online ad market and stokes a thriving, under-the-radar bazaar of businesses selling data on people’s habits, preferences and, for soldiers and spies, physical movements.”

Byron will talk about:

• The history of commercial data programs inside the U.S. government since 9/11 and how foreign governments, private investigators and even nosy journalists and neighbors can get access to the same data.
• The risks when terabytes of available information for sale are overturning traditional notions of privacy, civil liberties and limited government.
• What you can do to protect your privacy and what policy solutions lawmakers should consider implementing.

An investigative and enterprise journalist who specializes in law, courts and national security, Byron Tau has worked at The Wall Street Journal and Politico. At the Journal, he served as a White House reporter during the Obama administration; covered Congress with a focus on the intelligence, oversight and judiciary committees; and was a legal affairs and national security correspondent.

For Politico, he covered the White House, lobbying, campaign finance and politics. A native of Holliston, Massachusetts, he holds an undergraduate degree from McGill University and a graduate degree from Georgetown University.

Currently, Byron reports for and teaches at the Allbritton Journalism Institute, a journalism nonprofit launched in 2023 that trains and mentors early career reporters.