This fall, the  Reynolds School of Journalism will host a forum featuring David Carroll, subject of “The Great Hack” film which explores the data breach during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Carroll will discuss personal and public privacy trends and concerns from noon to 12:50 p.m. on Oct. 16, 2019, in the Joe Crowley Student Union Theatre at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Carroll, an associate professor of media design at the Parsons School of Design at The New School, was one of the users affected by the Cambridge Analytica breach of data in 2016. In July 2017, Carroll filed a formal complaint against the firm, following his inquiry into what information Cambridge Analytica collected about him.

"Lines of personal privacy and ethics are being dramatically redrawn, as technology evolves and as culture shifts in response,” Reynolds School professor and event coordinator Caesar Andrews said. “David Carroll's legal battle to track down manipulation of his personal information is a pointed example of how individuals are affected. For students studying media and for any citizen, there are lessons to learn from his experiences."

This free, public event will be moderated by Reynolds School Assistant Professor of Media Law Patrick File and is sponsored by the Leonard Distinguished Chair in Media Ethics and Writing. An audience Q&A will take place after Carroll’s talk.

“I’m excited to help lead a discussion into how a relatively ordinary person took the extraordinary steps that Professor Carroll did to force some light into the dark world of personal data collection,” File said. “I hope he can provide some insight into what it took to do that, and how every one of us might better understand the responsibilities and obligations for individuals, corporations and government—around data protection.”