What I wish I knew in my first 90 days of privacy engineering work in a new organization The emerging field of privacy engineering is rapidly evolving with new data regulations pushing technologists to innovate safer and scalable ways to protect user data. After gaining experience designing privacy infrastructure and…

Medical Pricing: Why can’t I get the cost of anything upfront? Healthcare providers won’t even tell me the self-pay price. It makes me think they charge people different amounts — is that illegal? When i pay for a service, how much goes where? I.e insurance company, doctor, etc. Is anyone regulating medical…

How healthcare institutions are becoming oligopolies and reasons to stay hopeful for healthcare reform. — While gathering questions on healthcare from my networks, friends and strangers alike honed in on the expense and inscrutability of the healthcare system. There was a common fear that medical bills would be more expensive than expected, not knowing in advance the list of medical procedures that would be performed…

In responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, technologists and public health workers have a responsibility to avoid building harmful surveillance infrastructure. — In computer systems, identifying a person requires knowledge of the networks of people, behaviors, and personal details associated with them. To find out who somebody is, you must triangulate them through the rhythms of their lives and the shape of their communities. Because of this, being identified online often involves…

Beyond individual tech companies being punished, we should be thinking about how to change the market system that rewards and empowers these companies. Breaking up big tech has become a favorite rallying call across the political aisle — from Elizabeth Warren to Donald Trump, there has been a bi-partisan feeling…

Exploring the writing styles of Hamilton, Madison, and Jay in the Federalist Papers using latent semantic analysis — Code Implementation Here At this point, you might’ve heard of that play, Hamilton, that’s been sweeping the Broadway circuit and reviving national interest in the “Ten Dollar Founding Father without a father”. It’s massively entertaining with a compelling narrative, and it has historical authenticity (with some creative liberties). …