Bridging Tech, Law, and Social Justice

I came to Stanford passionate about social justice, policy, and law. I was also excited to go to a school known for changing the world through technology. While technology may appear siloed and unrelated to other fields, Stanford takes an interdisciplinary approach to technology and emphasizes how it impacts all aspects of our lives.

My social science professors taught me that technology is intimately tied to my interests in law and social justice. For example, law enforcement uses biometric surveillance and predictive software, and courts use risk assessment algorithms. These technologies impact the lives of marginalized groups and require an interdisciplinary evaluation to ensure just and ethical use. I pursued the new Data Science and Social Systems major and applied to the Tech Ethics and Policy (TEP) Summer Fellowship program through the McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society and the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) to equip myself to be a leader in this field.

Finding Connections 

In the TEP program, I was surprised to meet so many students with similar journeys and interests as me. Most of the cohort engaged in interdisciplinary study and made concrete efforts to step outside of their comfort zone to learn another perspective and discipline. For example, I became great friends with a computer science student frustrated with Silicon Valley and pursuing a master's in sociology to learn how to decolonize technology and make it more accessible.

I had some of the most illuminating conversations with members of my TEP cohort. We often reflected on the challenges of being policy advocates at the heart of Silicon Valley, where the "move fast and break things mentality” still feels paramount. Policy-making in D.C., on the other hand, works in a completely different way. It is slow, meticulous, and considerate of many stakeholders. As future tech policy leaders, we must be patient and empathetic as we work to bridge the gap between policy and Silicon Valley.

Real-world Experience

For my internship, I was placed with the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law, Europe’s version of the American Civil Liberties Union, as an AI and Human Rights Fellow. I specifically worked on the issue of biometric surveillance, where I interviewed 11 digital rights experts and advocates. These experts, along with their organizations, have conducted successful campaigns against biometric mass surveillance, emphasizing the dangers surveillance poses to human rights, such as privacy, expression, and assembly.

Drawing from the insights gained from these interviews, I co-authored the “Taking Action Against Biometric Surveillance” report on effective strategies to push back against biometric surveillance. In our report, we detail a multifaceted approach that includes policy advocacy, evidence collection, strategic litigation, coalition and capacity building, company and investor engagement, and awareness campaigns (media and art). The report serves as an initial blueprint for civil society organizations worldwide to launch campaigns against biometric surveillance in their local contexts. I also worked with Discord's trust and safety team on stakeholder engagement and incorporating human rights frameworks into their development of content governance ML models as part of my internship.

Key Takeaways from the Fellowship

• The tech policy arena needs to be more accessible. There is an underlying expectation for tech policy advocates to have technical skills and know tech lingo. We need to change that. Marginalized communities are disproportionately harmed by technology; we need to cultivate more inclusive spaces where folks from those communities can influence the policy agenda. One step can be to move away from tech jargon and instead focus on the harm and impacts of technologies, using real-world examples and relatable language.
• Multistakeholder dialogue is needed to truly understand AI's impact on society and what steps we need to take to regulate it. Tech companies, investors, policymakers, community organizers, and civil society all have different yet valuable perspectives and expertise that are needed for AI policy. We need to come together, share our knowledge, and set an agenda for responsible AI. To facilitate dialogue, we need to build environments of trust and reciprocity so that stakeholders can honestly share their perspectives.
• Tech ethics and policy careers are diverse and developing as we speak! One of my favorite parts of the fellowship was the virtual field trips. Every week, we visited the other placement organizations in the fellowship virtually. We learned about the incredible work fellows were doing and gained insight and wisdom from their supervisors. The field trips taught me that there are so many different career opportunities in tech. You can be a responsible AI consultant, a human rights lawyer, or a research scientist. Many of the supervisors also came from diverse experiences–from school teachers to librarians to marketing. Now, I believe more than ever that we should not pigeonhole ourselves into a path or perspective and should instead always keep ourselves open to career possibilities.

The TEP fellowship truly changed my life and crystallized my career interest: the intersection of tech and public interest law. Whether you study biology, earth systems, or urban studies, technology is impacting the issues and communities you care about, and there is a place in the TEP program for you.

While it often feels like there is a lot of risk in stepping outside of your comfort zone, there’s so much more reward. If you are comfortable writing 15-page papers, take a CS or data science class and learn how to code. If you are a coding genius, take a class in sociology or international relations. You will become a much stronger applicant if you can speak the language of both disciplines, and you will have the skillsets to be a leader on our campus and in the world!

Learn more about the Tech Ethics and Policy Summer Fellowship program. Applications for the Summer 2025 cohort are due on December 1, 2024. We'll be hosting an Office Hour via Zoom on 11/21, 12:00-1:00 PM (You must RSVP to join) RSVP Today.

Ashwin Prabu is an undergraduate senior at Stanford studying Data Science and Social Systems and Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity. He is passionate about protecting the digital rights of immigrants, communities of color, and other marginalized groups. In his free time, he enjoys playing tennis and making vegan food.

The Tech Ethics and Policy Summer Fellowship program is sponsored in part by Frank McCourt in association with Stanford’s partnership with the Project Liberty Institute.