Kevin Bankston facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kevin Bankston
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Kevin Stuart Bankston
July 2, 1974 |
| Education | University of Texas, Austin (BA) University of Southern California (JD) |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
Kevin Stuart Bankston, born on July 2, 1974, is an American lawyer. He works on important topics like free speech and privacy law. He helps make sure people can say what they think online and that their personal information stays safe.
Currently, he is the Privacy Policy Director at Facebook. There, he helps create rules for new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). Before this, he led the Open Technology Institute (OTI) in Washington, D.C.
Contents
Learning and Education
Kevin Bankston went to the University of Texas at Austin. He earned a bachelor's degree there. Later, in 2001, he finished law school. He received his law degree from the University of Southern California.
His Career Helping People
Early Work with Civil Rights
From 2001 to 2002, Kevin Bankston worked for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). This group helps protect people's rights. He worked in New York City. At the ACLU, he handled cases about free speech on the internet.
Protecting Online Privacy
In 2003, he joined the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). This group works to protect digital rights. He studied how new rules after 9/11 affected online privacy. He also looked at how they impacted free speech.
At the EFF, he became a senior lawyer. He focused on privacy and free speech laws. He was a main lawyer in big lawsuits against the National Security Agency (NSA). He also sued AT&T. These cases questioned if the NSA's secret wiretapping was legal.
Working on Technology Policy
After nearly ten years at the EFF, Bankston moved to the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT). This was in early 2012. He worked in Washington, D.C.
As a senior lawyer, he led the Free Expression Policy Project. He spoke up about many internet and technology issues. In 2013, he spoke to a special committee in the United States Senate. He talked about a law called The Surveillance Transparency Act. This law aimed to make government surveillance more open.
Later, he became the director of the Open Technology Institute (OTI). This institute is part of the New America Foundation.
Groups He Works With
- Since 2005, he has been on the board of the First Amendment Coalition. This is a group that works for public interest.
- He was also a special fellow at the Stanford Law School’s Stanford Center for Internet and Society.
