NYU will host “The State of Surveillance: Legal, Cultural, and Technological Perspectives,” a roundtable discussion, on Wed., Oct. 23, 6:30 p.m. at NYU’s Global Center for Academic and Spiritual Life.
The discussion will feature: Faiza Patel, co-director of the Brennan Center for Justice's Liberty and National Security Program; Carrie Cordero, former Department of Justice attorney and currently director of National Security Studies at Georgetown University Law Center; journalist and author Peter Maass; Eyal Press, author of Beautiful Souls; and new media expert Clay Shirky, who is part of the faculty at the Tisch School of the Arts’ Interactive Telecommunications Program and NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute and author of Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations, among other works.
Perhaps few news stories in recent months have been as unsettling as the revelations that the National Security Administration (NSA) and other government agencies maintain routine mass surveillance of the lives of ordinary American citizens. Is such information-gathering vital for reasons of national security, and if so, what are the legal parameters of such activity? Are we destined to exist in a world without privacy, where our communications and movements, web surfing and purchasing habits are subject to scrutiny by both government and corporations? What are the implications for investigative journalism and a free press? Ultimately, the question becomes--in what kind of society do we want to live? The panelists will gather to discuss what boundaries, if any, we might seek to establish.
The event, free and open to the public, is co-sponsored by the New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, and NYU’s Institute for Public Knowledge. Registration is required at http://bit.ly/1aOmK9z or via Facebook.
Reporters wishing to attend the event must RSVP to Stephanie Steiker at 212.998.2101 or stephanie.steiker@nyu.edu.