Summary
Beryl Lipton is a Reynolds Scholar in Residence at the University of Nevada, Reno as part of the University's partnership with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). She has extensive experience using Freedom of Information laws and large-scale public records campaigns in her research and journalism, and she regularly speaks on and teaches future journalists, academics, activists about issues of FOI law and government surveillance.
As an investigative researcher in EFF's Threat Lab, Lipton's work focuses on government transparency, law enforcement surveillance technology and other uses of technology by government actors.
At EFF, Lipton supports the Atlas of Surveillance, The Foilies and The Catalog of Carceral Surveillance, among other projects. She enjoys teaching others about the strengths and limitations of public records laws and discussing the potential and real harms of the surveillance state.
Prior to her work with EFF in 2020, she served as Projects Editor for the nonprofit MuckRock, where she focused on prison privatization and other public-private partnerships. She was a co-editor of the "...Under Surveillance" series from MIT Press, which features excerpts of the FBI files kept on writers, scientists and activists.
Lipton serves on the board for Spare Change News, the Boston area street newspaper, and contributes to Gannett New York, where she has spearheaded the collection and release of police misconduct records throughout New York state.
Lipton holds an undergraduate degree from Harvard College, where she concentrated in the History and Literature of America and was an active editor of The Harvard Crimson.
Education
- Bachelor's degree in History and Literature of America, Harvard College