Center for Democracy & Technology

We:
🔹 Exposed deepfake abuse in schools
🔹 Launched a cross-sector working group on NCII
🔹 Spotlighted online hate targeting women of color candidates
🔹 Challenged flawed age-verification laws

cdt.org/2024-annual-...

Understanding and Addressing Online Harms.

In 2024, CDT deepened its work on online harms — from fighting image-based abuse to researching content moderation across low-resource languages. We paired research with advocacy, driving industry change and pushing for smarter, rights-respecting policies. cdt.org/2024-annual-...

We Are Not Talking About AI Memory Enough | TechPolicy.Press Surprisingly little attention is paid to what AI assistants remember about us and how we can shape their memory to control what they do, writes Ruchika Joshi.

AI assistants are becoming more powerful—but also more risky. In @techpolicypress.bsky.social, CDT’s Ruchika Joshi argues we need to treat AI memory not just as a feature, but as a governance tool that empowers users and reduces harm. Read the full piece: www.techpolicy.press...

Are High School Counselors Encouraging AI for College Applications? | EdSurge News Students – and faculty – are increasingly using generative AI to ease the college admissions process. Here’s what they should know.

CDT’s Hannah Quay-de La Vallee: “Honestly, just use ChatGPT at that point.” www.edsurge.com/news...

“[CDT’s Quay-de la Vallee] also encourages both students & faculty to look at exactly what tool they are using for help. Many ed tech companies are touting their own solutions, which are ‘wrappers for ChatGPT, or Gemini or Claude,’ she says, with no actual education research involved.”

Are High School Counselors Encouraging AI for College Applications? | EdSurge News Students – and faculty – are increasingly using generative AI to ease the college admissions process. Here’s what they should know.

CDT’s Quay-de la Vallee: “The more targeted tasks you can give it the better. And keep a real strong eye out for error and bias.” www.edsurge.com/news...

Are High School Counselors Encouraging AI for College Applications? | EdSurge News Students – and faculty – are increasingly using generative AI to ease the college admissions process. Here’s what they should know.

“If you say, ‘Write my essay,’ it’ll be much more error-prone, versus, ‘Help me come up with a thesis statement,’ or ‘My introductory paragraph isn’t punchy enough,’” she says, adding a human should always be the final entity to look at an essay, not a computer.” www.edsurge.com/news...

Are High School Counselors Encouraging AI for College Applications? | EdSurge News Students – and faculty – are increasingly using generative AI to ease the college admissions process. Here’s what they should know.

“The usage should come with guardrails. Hannah Quay-de la Vallee, a senior technologist at CDT, encourages students to write their own essays at first, then be specific with requests.” www.edsurge.com/news...

CDT:
🔹 Joined CO’s AI Taskforce
🔹 Fought for strong state privacy laws
🔹 Filed 8 amicus briefs on online speech
🔹 Exposed risks of mandatory age verification
🔹 Supported equity-driven tech in schools & services

More in our 2024 Annual Report: cdt.org/2024-annual-...

Purple and orange gradient over capitol building.

In 2024, states led the way on AI, privacy, and platform regulation — and CDT was there to help shape smart, rights-respecting policy. From CO’s landmark AI law to the fight for reproductive privacy protections, we brought deep expertise to state capitals nationwide. cdt.org/2024-annual-...

Delta is using AI to give you a personalized airfare. It could be the future of pricing. Companies can harvest everything from your location to your search history to determine how much you pay.

“‘It is a more sophisticated and algorithmically driven and selective price gouging,’ Slover said of surveillance pricing, which he calls bespoke pricing. You are focusing on one particular individual based on their vulnerability and susceptibility.” www.vox.com/technolo...

Delta is using AI to give you a personalized airfare. It could be the future of pricing. Companies can harvest everything from your location to your search history to determine how much you pay.

“When I asked George Slover, general counsel of the CDT, about pricing models like this, he said, ‘This is a different animal than what the airlines have been doing in the past, and it is more personalized and more intrusive.’” www.vox.com/technolo...

The U.S. doesn’t have a general-purpose privacy law, & HIPAA only protects data held by certain people like healthcare providers + insurance companies. Many health and AI apps are typically not covered by HIPAA. That could put sensitive information in real danger.

White document on black background.

Assistive tech can empower—but only if it protects users' privacy. When design overlooks sensitive health or disability data, disabled users pay the price. CDT’s Ariana Aboulafia & intern Achi Mishra outline how to center privacy in inclusive innovation in a new report: cdt.org/insights/inc...

Defeated state AI moratorium finds new life in Trump’s AI Action Plan | StateScoop The president's new AI Action Plan threatens to revoke federal funding if states' AI laws are deemed overly "burdensome."

CDT’s Hall: “This is a massive power grab that, because these things occur over a telecommunications network and are a part of communications, the FCC has jurisdiction.” statescoop.com/trump...

Defeated state AI moratorium finds new life in Trump’s AI Action Plan | StateScoop The president's new AI Action Plan threatens to revoke federal funding if states' AI laws are deemed overly "burdensome."

Travis Hall: “The AI moratorium essentially said no state laws. That’s not good, but it’s clear. What the AI Action Plan creates is an arbitrary standard by which any discretionary grant program could potentially be reviewed and revoked.” statescoop.com/trump...

Defeated state AI moratorium finds new life in Trump’s AI Action Plan | StateScoop The president's new AI Action Plan threatens to revoke federal funding if states' AI laws are deemed overly "burdensome."

“@travisrh.bsky.social, director for state engagement w/ the Washington think tank CDT, said Trump’s AI plan effectively puts the moratorium back in play, but w/ the added niggle that it contains ambiguities to be animated by the interpretations of numerous federal agencies.” statescoop.com/trump...

No Warrants and Half a Dozen Different Rules: The Convoluted and Dangerous Status of the Border Search Exception This is the second in a series of blog posts regarding Customs and Border Protection searches of digital devices. Imagine you live in the western United States and are planning a vacation to Europe, returning with a connecting flight somewhere on the east coast. When you arrive in the U.S., the government may invoke the […]

CDT’s @jakelaperruque.bsky.social unpacks the history of this law, the conflicting rules in different jurisdictions, and the problem with the border search exception. cdt.org/insights/no-...

AI-generated image of a gavel smashing a cell-phone.

NEW BLOG: The government could copy every email, photo, and document on your phone at the border—without a warrant. Why? Because different appellate courts have issued conflicting rules on what the Fourth Amendment allows. cdt.org/insights/no-...

CDT, the Leadership Conference, and Protect Democracy Release New Analysis of Federal Efforts to Expand Access to State Administrative Data As the federal government rapidly seeks to increase access to state administrative data, CDT, the Leadership Conference’s Center for Civil Rights and Technology, and Protect Democracy developed an exp...

* Legal protections
* Potential future changes to / impacts of fed govt’s growing access, use, & sharing of state admin data
cdt.org/insights/cdt...

CDT, the Leadership Conference, and Protect Democracy Release New Analysis of Federal Efforts to Expand Access to State Administrative Data As the federal government rapidly seeks to increase access to state administrative data, CDT, the Leadership Conference’s Center for Civil Rights and Technology, and Protect Democracy developed an exp...

In a new explainer with @civilrightsorg.bsky.social & @protectdemocracy.org, we examine federal efforts to access state-held data, detailing:
* Types of admin data held by state-run programs
* Examples of efforts by fed gov’t to access state data cdt.org/insights/cdt...

Interrogating content moderation systems in indigenous and low-resource languages of the Global South.

🗣️ Interpretation in EN/SW/AR/ES
🕘 9:00–10:30 am ET
cdt.org/event/interr...

Join CDT on Aug 7 for a webinar sharing new research on content moderation in four languages of the Global South. Speakers include @emnamizouni.bsky.social (Digital Citizenship), Miriam Wanjiru (Paradigm Initiative), Amrita Sengupta, and Dilmar Villena (Hiperderecho).

Annual report website cover.

2024 brought seismic shifts in tech — especially AI. As governments, companies, and communities adapted, CDT was there shaping policy, advising decision-makers, and centering users’ rights every step of the way. Read our 2024 Annual Report: cdt.org/2024-annual-...

Rapid Response: Building Victim-Centered Reporting Processes for Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery Also authored by CDT Intern Mi Yeon Kim. The non-consensual distribution of intimate imagery (NDII) — including both real and AI-generated content — is a growing and deeply harmful form of image-based sexual abuse. With the proliferation of generative AI, victims face escalating risks and continue to endure potential exposure even after content is taken […]

CDT’s latest report examines the current landscape of NDII reporting mechanisms across 8 popular content platforms & assesses how they structure policies, design reporting tools, & support victims through the process of NDII reporting/removal. cdt.org/insights/rap...

Rapid Response: Building Victim-Centered Reporting Processes for Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery Also authored by CDT Intern Mi Yeon Kim. The non-consensual distribution of intimate imagery (NDII) — including both real and AI-generated content — is a growing and deeply harmful form of image-based sexual abuse. With the proliferation of generative AI, victims face escalating risks and continue to endure potential exposure even after content is taken […]

With the proliferation of #GenAI, victims face escalating risks & continue to endure potential exposure even after content is taken down. cdt.org/insights/rap...

Will AI end cheap flights? Critics attack Delta’s “predatory” AI pricing. Your data could soon be used to spike flight costs, as Delta expands AI pilot.

CDT’s George Slover: "The very fact that Delta is saying that the early results of this intrusive pricing scheme 'show amazingly favorable results' says it all. They are increasing their profits, and those profits are coming from the consumers they are taking advantage of." arstechnica.com/tech...

Will AI end cheap flights? Critics attack Delta’s “predatory” AI pricing. Your data could soon be used to spike flight costs, as Delta expands AI pilot.

“[Slover’s] post suggested that Delta may be motivated to leave customers in the dark on their AI models while picking their pockets. So far, Delta has not confirmed when it may release public records showing the pricing variance occurring from its pilot program.” arstechnica.com/tech...

Will AI end cheap flights? Critics attack Delta’s “predatory” AI pricing. Your data could soon be used to spike flight costs, as Delta expands AI pilot.

“George Slover, general counsel for a digital rights group called CDT, warned last fall that tailoring prices based on a customer's ‘identity, preferences, and situation’ could lead airlines to collude to spike prices.” arstechnica.com/tech...

ICE is gaining access to trove of Medicaid records, adding new peril for immigrants The plan is the latest step by the Trump administration to gather sensitive information about people living in the U.S. as it seeks to crack down on illegal immigration.

CDT’s Laird: “Over 90 percent of entitlement fraud is committed by U.S. citizens, underscoring the false pretense of sharing this information with ICE.” www.latimes.com/cali...