Samm Sacks is a senior fellow at New America. She has worked on Chinese technology policy for over a decade, both with the U.S. government and in the private sector. She is writing a book (to be published by the University of Chicago Press) on U.S.-China relations through the lens of data, including the geopolitics of data privacy and cross-border data flows. Her research interests focus on China’s cybersecurity and data legal framework, the U.S.-China technology relationship, and global data governance.
Previously, Sacks launched the industrial cyber business for Siemens in Asia and worked as an analyst and Chinese linguist with the U.S. government. She also led China technology analysis for the political risk consulting firm Eurasia Group.
She has published in outlets including, The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, MIT Tech Review, Lawfare, and Slate. She testifies regularly before Congress on China’s technology and data policies. She is widely cited in media including New York Times, Politico, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and has appeared in TV and radio including NPR, Bloomberg, CNBC, MSNBC.
A former Fulbright scholar in Beijing, Sacks reads and speaks Mandarin. She received her AB in Comparative Literature/Literary Translation (Chinese) from Brown University and MA from Yale University in International Security Studies.
Sacks is concurrently a Senior Fellow at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center as well as the Cross Border Data Forum. She also advises corporate clients on China’s technology regulations.