Hear dispatches from the frontiers of security and privacy at Disrupt SF 2017

Your data is in demand: just about everyone, from hackers and scammers to multinationals and governments wants it. How can you keep it safe? How can we set limits on tracking, advertising, and the fast-advancing field of data-sucking AIs? And what does the situation look like from the side of the companies and adversaries? Those are questions we aim to tackle in September at Disrupt SF.

This incessant drive for more and better data has spurred a counter-movement in personal security and privacy that aims to put as much control in the hands of consumers as possible. Zero knowledge storage, end-to-end encryption, blockchain-based verification, publicly verified encryption methods — all tools any user has at their fingertips should they want them.

But those tools are complex, resource-intensive and some may even be illegal, depending on where and how you use them (or so law enforcement would have you believe). Creating and providing them is not only a planet-scale deployment issue but a tricky one legally and ethically.

Heather Adkins has worked at Google for more than a decade, building the company’s Security Team and acting now as the Manager of Information Security. It’s probably one of the most difficult jobs in the whole joint. How does Google balance access and security, encryption and  disclosure, privacy and profiling? Maybe she’ll tell us.

Moxie Marlinspike founded Open Whisper Systems, the organization behind the cryptography protocol used by Signal, WhatsApp, Google’s Allo and Facebook Messenger. In other words, he helped open the can of worms that contained today’s freely available and nearly unbreakable encryption methods. FBI agents hate him!

The perspectives offered by these accomplished panelists should result in a fascinating conversation about the present and future of cybersecurity, privacy and the role of technology in both protecting and exposing our data.

Given the importance of security and privacy in today’s world, we’re not limiting our conversations to the main stage. We’ll have an Off The Record session focused on privacy and security, which is only available to conference attendees. There, you’ll be able to rub shoulders with some of the most prominent founders and investors in the space. Plus, the Startup Alley show floor will be smattered with privacy and security startups from around the world.

We’re excited to have Adkins and Marlinspike enlighten us at Disrupt SF, going down September 18 to September 20, and we hope to see you there. Tickets are available here.