Founded by Professor Edward Felten in 2002, the Freedom to Tinker blog has been at the forefront of prominent debates on technology and society. Contributors – a roster of experts from many institutions – have exposed flaws and proposed alternatives in areas from digital copyright to voting machines. Now hosted by the Center for Information Technology Policy, the blog has focused recently on issues of privacy and online security.

Dan Wallach Ph.D. ’99 is a professor in the Department of Computer Science and a Rice Scholar in the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. He also is a member of the USENIX Association Board of Directors and the Air Force Science Advisory Board. He writes about building secure and robust systems for the Internet.

On the NSA’s Capabilities
“Perhaps the totality of our national security posture would be improved if the NSA spent more time fixing problems than creating and exploiting them.” 09/08/13

Jennifer Rexford BSE ’91 is the the Gordon Y.S. Wu Professor in Engineering at Princeton and a member of the Federal Communications Commission’s Open Internet Advisory Committee. She writes about Internet policy and governance.

Revisiting the Potential Hazards of the Protect America Act
“In light of recent news reports about NSA wiretapping of U.S. Internet communications, folks may be interested in some background on the ‘warrantless wiretapping’ provisions of the Protect America act, and the potential security risks such wiretapping systems can introduce.” 06/08/13

Jeffrey Tignor is a fellow at the Center for Information Technology Policy and special counsel at the Federal Communications Commission. He writes about the use of wireless technology to foster local civic engagement.

Government Needs to Embrace the Social Web
“The Federal government shutdown has, at least temporarily, shed light on the valuable day-to-day work done by the Federal government and its employees. Now is the time for the Federal government to strengthen the connection between the public and Federal employees.” 10/11/13

Andrew Appel A.B. ’81 is the Eugene Higgins Professor and chair of the computer science department at Princeton. He writes about election technology, copyright and computer security.

Oral Arguments in New Jersey Voting Machine Lawsuit
“This election day, New Jersey voters will vote – if electricity is restored and if they can get to the polls after the hurricane – on a model of voting machine that I have personally demonstrated how to hack.” 11/03/12