OTI Hires Former PCLOB Executive Director as New Director of Surveillance and Cybersecurity Policy

New America’s Open Technology Institute (OTI) announced today that it has hired Sharon Bradford Franklin as its Director of Surveillance and Cybersecurity Policy. In this role, she will lead OTI’s work on a range of issues including government access to electronic data, encryption, cyber vulnerabilities, and privacy and human rights, among others.

Franklin has been serving for the past six months as a Senior Fellow at OTI. She has also been serving concurrently as a Non-Resident Fellow at the Georgetown Center on National Security and the Law. Previously, Franklin served for almost four years as the first Executive Director at the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), where she supervised and directed the work of the agency’s staff in reviewing counterterrorism programs to ensure that they include adequate safeguards to protect privacy and civil liberties. Prior to the PCLOB, she worked as Senior Counsel at The Constitution Project (TCP), a nonprofit legal watchdog group, where her work included such issues as surveillance, cybersecurity, government transparency, and individual privacy.

The following statement can be attributed to Kevin Bankston, Director of the Open Technology Institute:

“The Open Technology Institute is absolutely thrilled to welcome to our team a lawyer and advocate as deeply experienced and passionate as Sharon. Thanks to her long career both in civil society and in government working on surveillance and cybersecurity, Sharon has the knowledge, the network, and the digital rights know-how necessary to lead OTI’s work on today’s most pressing tech-related privacy and security issues. I cannot think of another person who could bring such a wealth of subject-matter expertise, management experience, and respect both for and from the community within which we work—which is exactly why we hired her!”

The following statement can be attributed to Sharon Bradford Franklin, the new Director of Surveillance and Cybersecurity Policy at the Open Technology Institute:

“I’m excited to be joining the fabulous team at OTI and the broader community of experts at New America. I have long admired OTI for its combination of research, deep thinking, and credible advocacy. I welcome this opportunity to continue working on cutting edge issues involving privacy and technology law and policy in collaboration with a group of talented and committed colleagues.”