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Ari Schwartz
Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Consumer Privacy

Ari Schwartz is the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT). Schwartz's work focuses on increasing individual control over personal and public information. He promotes privacy protections in the digital age and expanding access to government information via the Internet. He regularly testifies before Congress and Executive Branch Agencies on these issues.

Schwartz also leads the Anti-Spyware Coalition (ASC) , anti-spyware software companies, academics, and public interest groups dedicated to defeating spyware. In 2006, Schwartz won the RSA award for Excellence in Public Policy for his work building the ASC and other efforts against spyware. He was also named one of the Top 5 influential IT ... More »

Ari Schwartz is the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT). Schwartz's work focuses on increasing individual control over personal and public information. He promotes privacy protections in the digital age and expanding access to government information via the Internet. He regularly testifies before Congress and Executive Branch Agencies on these issues.

Schwartz also leads the Anti-Spyware Coalition (ASC) , anti-spyware software companies, academics, and public interest groups dedicated to defeating spyware. In 2006, Schwartz won the RSA award for Excellence in Public Policy for his work building the ASC and other efforts against spyware. He was also named one of the Top 5 influential IT security thinkers of 2007 by Secure Computing Magazine.

Schwartz currently serves as a member of the U.S. Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board.

2009 Publications and Testimony

2008 Publications and Testimony

  • Testimony of Ari Schwartz before the Senate Judiciary Committee on "Passport Files: Privacy Protection Needed For All Americans" July 10, 2008
  • June 18, 2008, Testimony of Ari Schwartz before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on "Protecting Personal Information: Is the Federal Government Doing Enough?"
  • Marit Hansen, Ari Schwartz, Alissa Cooper, "Privacy and Identity Management," IEEE Security and Privacy, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 38-45, Mar/Apr, 2008
  • March 11, 2008, Testimony of Ari Schwartz [pdf] before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Affairs Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives on The Use of Commercial Information Resellers by Federal Agencies
  • January 7, 2008, Federal Computer Week, Focusing on Searchability

2007 Publications and Testimony

2006 Publications and Testimony

2005 Publications and Testimony

2004 Publications and Testimony

2003 Publications and Testimony

2002 Publications and Testimony

2001 Publications and Testimony

2000 Publications and Testimony

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Blog Post - Proof that Long-Term Thinking on Open Government Policy Matters
6/23/2010

In 1989, journalist Scott Armstrong sued to preserve the Reagan Administration's email as they left office. Several cases came from the original suit, litigated by Public Citizen. One of the main goals was to make sure that federal government emails were saved in electronic form and not paper.  It is not an exaggeration to say that, because of this case, we have electronic access to the email records of the last five Administrations. 

Fast forward 21 years... The Sunlight Foundation released a great tool to review Elana Kagan's White House email records with a great new tool called Elena's Inbox. 

As you use it, please thank Scott Armstrong and Public Citizen for their hard work two decades ago.  There couldn't be a better manifestation of why forward thinking on information policy matters.

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Blog Post - NTIA Issues Privacy Event Notice
4/19/2010 Consumer Privacy

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the International Trade Administration (ITA), on behalf of the U.S. Department of Commerce, will hold a public meeting on May 7, 2010, to discuss the nexus between privacy policy and innovation in the Internet economy.

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Blog Post - Advisory Committees Going Online
4/8/2010 Open Government

For the first time, the US Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB) is Webcasting one day of our meetings (I'm a member of the Board) today.

The meeting will run from 8:30 - 4:30pm.  Topics of wide public interest will include:

  • 9:30am Cloud Computing implementations in government
  • 11:45am White House Office of Science and Technology Policy R&D projects
  • 2pm National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Key Management Changes and Key Transitions
  • 3:30 Pending Cyber Security Legislation with Congressional Staff from Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs and Senate Intelligence Committees

CDT has encouraged all Federal Advisory Committees to Webcast their meetings.  This pilot at a NIST administered body demonstrates how this can be done.

 

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Blog Post - FCC Asks for Comments on Privacy Issues Outlined by CDT
1/13/2010 Consumer Privacy

The FCC's National Broadband Plan was granted a month extension by Congress.  The Commission is using the extension, in part, to put out an official call for comments on a range of important privacy issues that were first outlined by CDT in a letter to the agency. 

In announcing its formal call for comments, the FCC says:

"In order to inform the Commission’s development of a National Broadband Plan, the Commission has inquired about the relevance of online privacy protections to broadband adoption and deployment.  For example, in the Notice of Inquiry initiating the National Broadband Plan proceeding, the Commission asked '[w]hat are consumer expectations of privacy when using broadband services or technology and what impact do privacy concerns have on broadband adoption and use?'  The Commission has also
solicited responses to questions about online privacy as it relates to cloud computing.
 
"The Center for Democracy and Technology recently filed a letter with significant questions about the use of personal information and privacy in an online, broadband world.  The Commission seeks public comment on the questions and topics raised by the Center for Democracy and Technology in its letter." 
 

CDT plans to submit comments before the January 22 deadline.
 

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