Silkie Carlo — Director

Silkie is our Director. She works to further human rights and equality particularly in the fields of state surveillance, policing tech, big data, internet regulation and AI using parliamentary lobbying, strategic litigation, investigations and public campaigns to successfully change policies and laws.

She has spearheaded several national campaigns including against live facial recognition surveillance, on which her work was featured in the Sundance-nominated documentary Coded Bias (streaming on Netflix). She is regularly invited to give expert evidence on civil liberties matters to UK Parliament and has also given oral evidence on technology and human rights issues to European Parliament and the Bundestag.

Silkie is a recognised media spokesperson on human rights issues, including on flagship political programmes such as BBC Any Questions? and Politics Live, and regularly writes opinion pieces in the Telegraph, with bylines also in the Guardian and Mail among other papers.

Before joining Big Brother Watch, she was the Senior Advocacy Officer at the UK’s oldest human rights organisation Liberty where she led a programme on Technology and Human Rights and launched a legal challenge against mass surveillance powers. She previously worked for Edward Snowden’s official legal defence fund and advocated for Chelsea Manning, among other whistleblowers at risk.

Silkie is the co-author of Information Security for Journalists (2014), which was downloaded over 300,000 times and translated into four languages.

Madeleine Stone — Senior Advocacy Officer

Madeleine is our Senior Advocacy Officer, specialising in surveillance tech.

She has worked with a range of organisations that promote freedom of expression in the UK and globally, including English PEN, Index on Censorship, and Lawyers Without Borders. She has also volunteered for organisations that support refugees across Europe, as well as volunteering with us while completing her Master's degree.

She received a BA in English and Related Literature at the University of York and an MA in Human Rights Law from SOAS, where she specialised in counter-terrorism policy, surveillance, and the right to privacy.

Jake Hurfurt — Head of Research and Investigations

Jake is our Head of Research and Investigations. He is currently digging deep into the use of AI, algorithms, and predictive analytics in welfare and social care.

He previously spent three years working as a news reporter for the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday, where he brought stories on big tech to a wide audience and honed a cache of investigative tools.

Before going into journalism Jake received a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from the University of Oxford and an MA in Newspaper Journalism from City, University of London where he specialised in humanitarian reporting and the post-war reconstruction of Kosovo.

Matthew Feeney — Advocacy Manager

Matthew is our Advocacy Manager.

He previously worked at think tanks in the UK and the USA, where he focussed on a range of technology and civil liberties topics including drone surveillance, online speech, facial recognition, encryption, AI, searches of electronic devices, and immigration surveillance. He has written for publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and City A.M and has appeared on a wide range of radio and TV platforms.

He received his BA and MA in Philosophy from the University of Reading.

Abhinaya Murthy — Digital Communications Officer

Abhinaya is our Digital Communications Officer bringing together technical and creative skills to deliver digital strategy and communications encompassing developing and maintaining our website, expanding social media outreach and growing our supporter base.

Abhinaya has previously worked in the higher education sector and in a range of non-profits focusing on education, children's welfare, and women's rights.

She holds an MSc in media and development studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a BEng in Computer Science and Engineering from India.

Jasleen Chaggar — Legal & Policy Officer

Jasleen is our Legal and Policy Officer, focusing on data rights, financial privacy and surveillance tech. She has also worked across a range of our campaigns, including state and private use of facial recognition, free expression and online speech.

Prior to joining Big Brother Watch, Jasleen worked as a Litigation Paralegal, gaining expertise on human rights, privacy, data protection, defamation, sanctions, political asylum and judicial review matters. She continues to write a bi-weekly round-up of developments in media law and information law for the International Forum for Responsible Media (Inforrm) blog.

She holds a BA from Columbia University, where she specialised in European Intellectual History, and completed the Graduate Diploma in Law and Bar Course at the University of Law.

Erlend Evans — Digital Communications Manager

Erlend leads our Digital Communications team, driving supporter growth and amplifying our impact across online platforms.

With a background as Head of Social Media in digital journalism, Erlend has managed high-profile accounts and produced compelling content. During the pandemic, he reported extensively on protest rights and freedom of expression, bringing critical stories to the fore.

Erlend has also directed and edited impactful documentaries, shining a light on pressing issues such as the housing conditions of asylum seekers in the UK, the arms trade, and the case of Julian Assange.

Volunteers

We're supported by an excellent team of five volunteers at any one time. Our volunteers bring a diverse skill set to our team including legal, cybersecurity, human rights, and research expertise. Whilst our volunteers support our investigations and campaigns, we offer a fast-track experience of working with a dynamic campaign organisation.

Lord Paul Strasburger (Chair)

Paul’s strong instincts to support the rights of individual citizens against an over-bearing and over-intrusive State have guided him all his life, but it was only when he was made a Life Peer, following a career as a serial entrepreneur, that he was able to actively campaign on privacy issues.

In 2012/13 he sat on the Select Committee considering the draft Communications Data Bill (aka the Snoopers’ Charter) which would have allowed the collection of everyone’s phone calls and Internet activity with little oversight and helped persuade the Deputy Prime Minister to kill it off. He also fought hard against the Investigatory Powers Act in 2016, but with the Liberal Democrats no longer in power, they were unable to prevent it from becoming law and shamefully making British citizens subject to more State surveillance than in any other democracy.

Paul was also involved in campaigning for full implementation of the Leveson Inquiry’s recommendations to stop press intrusion and abuse.

He sees Big Brother Watch as a powerful and independent advocate for all citizens’ right to live without fear of unwarranted intrusion into their personal lives, whether by the State or by large companies and technology giants.

Al Ghaff

Al is an experienced strategic communications, campaigns, and fundraising expert and a long-standing human rights and civil liberties campaigner. He is currently the Director of Global Communications at Status - a blockchain infrastructure company - which is building pioneering technology and infrastructure to uphold human rights, enable the free flow of information, protect the right to privacy, and promote the sovereignty of individuals.

Al has held senior positions in the human rights sector, including as Chief Operating Officer at the Open Rights Group (ORG) and as Director of Communications and Development at Humanists UK.

Formerly, he was the Head of Membership and Fundraising for the Liberal Democrats, where he successfully built and led the team that achieved unprecedented membership and fundraising growth, having raised record sums of money across a range of different income streams.

Julianne Morrison

Julianne is a popular barrister at Monckton Chambers whose busy practice covers many of Chambers’ core areas of work. She is particularly active in Public Law and Human Rights, Competition and Regulatory, Data Protection and Freedom of Information, as well as a number of areas of European law. Julianne’s practice involves a mixture of led work, in which she has significant experience of complex and high profile litigation, as well as a substantial amount of work in her own right as sole barrister and advocate. Julianne acts before a range of Courts and Tribunals for clients including multinational corporations, governmental and public bodies and private individuals.