Daniel J. Weitzner is the Founding Director of the MIT Internet Policy Research Initiative and holds the 3Com Founders Principal Research Scientist post at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab. He teaches Internet public policy in MIT’s Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department. He has led research on new accountable systems to improve privacy in large-scale data analytics platforms, is developing new methods for cyber risk measurement, and serves as one of the lead investigators of the MIT Private Automated Contact Tracing Initiative (PACT), which pioneered the COVID-19 exposure notification designed now implemented by Apple and Google.
Weitzner was United States Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Internet Policy in the White House where he led initiatives on privacy, cybersecurity, copyright, and digital trade policies promoting the free flow of information. He was responsible for the Obama Administration’s Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights and the OECD Internet Policymaking Principles.
Weitzner has been a leader in Internet public policy from its inception, making fundamental contributions to the successful fight for strong online free expression protection in the United States Supreme Court, opposing technologically unwise regulation of encryption technology, and for laws that protect the privacy of email and web browsing data against government surveillance.
Weitzner is a founder of the Center for Democracy and Technology, led the World Wide Web Consortium’s public policy activities, and was Deputy Policy Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He was named as a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration (2019), was awarded the Electronic Frontier Foundation Pioneer Award (2016), is recipient of the International Association of Privacy Professionals Leadership Award (2013), and is member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Senior Fellow at the German Marshall Fund. He is General Chair of the new ACM Computer Science and Law Symposium. Weitzner has a law degree from Buffalo Law School, and a B.A. in Philosophy from Swarthmore College.
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