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News Organizations and Digital Security: Solutions to Surveillance Post-Snowden

Solutions to Surveillance Post-Snowden November 7, 2014, at the Newseum, Washington, D.C.   ·   Follow on Twitter with hashtag #EncryptNews View…

Solutions to Surveillance Post-Snowden

November 7, 2014, at the Newseum, Washington, D.C.   ·   Follow on Twitter with hashtag #EncryptNews

View the full day’s program (PDF).

Recap: Journalists, technologists discuss encryption at conference on digital security after Snowden.

Introduction

Introductory remarks by Kevin Bankston of the Open Technology Institute/New America Foundation; Trevor Timm of the Freedom of the Press Foundation; and Bruce Brown of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

Panel 1: Real-World Encryption Problems

Leak investigations are at a record high and national security journalists now often work under a shadow of surveillance. By knowing the stakes and how to respond to them, reporters can assess the risks, and still keep their sources relatively safe. This panel will discuss current and future unsolved digital security problems in journalism.Panelists: James Risen, investigative reporter, The New York Times; Julia Angwin, senior reporter, ProPublica; Dana Priest, investigative reporter, The Washington Post, and John S. and James L. Knight Chair in Public Affairs Journalism at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland; and Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist and senior policy analyst, Speech, Privacy & Technology Project, ACLU. Moderator: Hannah Bloch-Wehba, Stanton Fellow, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Panel 2: Beyond PGP, Protecting Reporters on an Institutional Level

Beyond encrypting individual email, panelists will look at the importance of utilizing the right systems company-wide to stave off hacking and other cyberattacks, as well as handing subpoenas and safeguarding sources. (Starts at 1:14:50)Panelists: Jack Gillum, reporter, Associated Press; Xeni Jardin, editor/partner and tech culture journalist, Boing Boing; Morgan Marquis-Boire, director of security, First Look Media; and Nabiha Syed, associate, Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz. Moderator: Marcia Hofmann, digital rights lawyer.

Panel 3: Security Lessons from the Snowden Files

Journalists involved in reporting on the NSA documents leaked by Edward Snowden will talk about what they learned from the experience and how it might be handled better in the future. (Starts at 2:04:52)Panelists: Julie Tate, researcher, The Washington Post; Spencer Ackerman, US national security editor, The Guardian US; Siobhan Gorman, intelligence correspondent, The Wall Street Journal; and Micah Lee, technologist, The Intercept. Moderator: Lynn Oberlander, general counsel, First Look Media.

Interview: Edward Snowden (via webcast)

Introduced by Trevor Timm, executive director, Freedom of the Press Foundation; joined by Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist and senior policy analyst, Speech, Privacy & Technology Project, ACLU. (Starts at 3:07:27)


The conference was made possible by the generous support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and Open Society Foundations.

Conference co-hosts were the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Freedom of the Press Foundation and New America’s Open Technology Institute.

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