Amba Kak is a US-based technology policy expert with over a decade of experience across roles in government, industry, academia, and civil society – and in multiple jurisdictions, including the US, India,and the EU. She is the current Co-Executive Director of AI Now Institute,[1] a US-based research institute where she leads an agenda oriented at actionable policy recommendations to tackle concerns with AI and concentrated power in the tech industry.
Amba Kak | |
|---|---|
| Education | West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Oxford University |
| Organizations | Ada Lovelace Institute Signal Foundation |
| Known for | technology policy, AI, net neutrality |
Over her career, she has advised multiple organizations including in her roles as global policy advisor to Mozilla, net-neutrality advisor to the Indian national telecom regulator TRAI during her time as legal consultant at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
In 2021, she served as senior advisor on AI to the Federal Trade Commission,[2] advising the US federal regulator on emerging technology issues.
She is on the Board of the Signal Foundation[3] and working group member at the Ada Lovelace Institute and on the Steering Committee of the Knight Georgetown Institute
Early life and education
editKak was born and raised in New Delhi, India. She trained as a lawyer at the National University of Juridical Sciences in India. As a Rhodes scholar, she later obtained a Master's in Law and a Master of Science in the Social Science of the Internet from University of Oxford.[1] At Oxford University, her research focused on net neutrality.[4]
She is a former Google policy fellow. Over the year 2016/2017 she was a Mozilla Technology Policy Fellow. Currently, Kak is a senior research fellow at Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute at Northeastern University.[5]
From 2016 to 2019, Kak was an adviser with the Mozilla Corporation.[6]
In 2021, Kak was nominated to serve as AI adviser at the US Federal Trade Commission.[1]
She serves as a board member at the Signal Foundation, advisory board member at the Mozilla Foundation and a working group member at the Ada Lovelace Institute.[6]
Career
editMozilla
editIn 2016, Kak was selected as one of Mozilla’s inaugural cohort of technology policy fellows, to work on global network neutrality advocacy.
In 2017, she joined Mozilla Corporation as global policy advisor, where she advised the organization on developing and advancing Mozilla’s position on issues ranging from privacy and data protection to competition and online content regulation, for example, advocating for strong privacy laws in India [7] as well as digital competition rules in France. [8]
AI Now
editKak joined AI Now in 2019, initially as Director of Global Policy, and in 2022 as Executive Director of the Institute. AI Now is a research institute focused on the social implications of artificial intelligence and related technologies started by Meredith Whittaker and Kate Crawford in 2017 after a symposium hosted by the White House. Under Amba Kak and Sarah Myers West’s leadership, AI Now was awarded the Global AI Policy Leader award in 2024 in the civil society organization category.[9]
Research on privacy, surveillance, and concentrated power
editKak has written and spoken publicly on concerns relating to state and commercial surveillance, in both the US and India.[10] She has written widely on the surveillance dangers of biometric technologies [11] including as editor of an edited collection of essays titled “Regulating Biometris” published by AI Now.[12] Her paper with Rashida Richardson on the risks of “suspect-development system” databases won the prestigious Reidenberg-Kerr Award for Outstanding Scholarship at the Privacy Law Scholars Conference. [13]
In 2023, Kak and Sarah Myers West also spearheaded discussion on the risks of AI technology to solidify and reinforce the dominance of large tech companies. [14] [15]
Kak has served as a journal reviewer for Big Data & Society and Nature and she has reviewed conference submissions as a Program Committee member for Rights Con and for ACM FAccT.
Congressional Testimony
editKak has testified before Congress at a hearing on artificial intelligence and data privacy in October 2023 [16] and before the Senate Commerce Committee in July 2024 [17]
References
edit- ^ a b c "FTC Chair Lina M. Khan Announces New Appointments in Agency Leadership Positions". Federal Trade Commission. November 19, 2021. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
- ^ "FTC Chair Lina M. Khan Announces New Appointments in Agency Leadership Positions". Federal Trade Commission. November 19, 2021. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
- ^ "Signal Foundation". Signal Foundation. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
- ^ "Amba Kak". Rhodes Trust. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
- ^ "Amba Kak". Ada Lovelace Institute. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
- ^ a b "Amba Kak" (PDF). US Congress. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
- ^ Kak, Amba. "Privacy law needs public debate: Data protection law must guard against internal as well as foreign threats to citizen privacy". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
- ^ Kak, Amba Uttara; Ben-Avie, Jochai (May 29, 2018). "ARCEP report: "Device neutrality" and the open internet". Open Policy & Advocacy. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
- ^ "GLOBAL AI POLICY LEADERS". Center for AI and Digital Policy. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
- ^ Gilbert, David (August 7, 2018). "India's new data protection law could create a massive surveillance state". Retrieved May 25, 2024.
- ^ Schaer, Cathrin (August 23, 2023). "AI-enhanced identification: A danger in the Middle East?". DW. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
- ^ Institute, AI Now (September 1, 2020). "Regulating Biometrics: Global Approaches and Open Questions". AI Now Institute. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
- ^ "Honors & Awards – Privacy Law Scholars Conference". Retrieved August 29, 2024.
- ^ "2023 Landscape". AI Now Institute. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
- ^ Piquard, Alexandre (November 14, 2023). "Digital giants' AI domination already raises concerns". Le Monde. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
- ^ "Innovation, Data, and Commerce Hearing: "Safeguarding Data and Innovation: Setting the Foundation for the use of Artificial Intelligence"". House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
- ^ "The Need to Protect Americans' Privacy and the AI Accelerant". U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation. July 11, 2024. Retrieved August 29, 2024.