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.

Rebecca Vincent — Interim Director

Rebecca is our Interim Director. She is a human rights campaigner and former diplomat with two decades of professional experience. Having worked extensively on freedom of expression throughout her career, she joins Big Brother Watch with a particular interest in the human rights approach to free speech.

As the former Director of Campaigns for press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Rebecca has coordinated many high-profile international campaigns, including her well-known role in the campaign to free Julian Assange. She was a founding steering committee member of the Hold the Line Coalition in support of Maria Ressa in the Philippines, as well as the Free Narges Coalition in support of Narges Mohammadi in Iran. She has played a leading role in campaigns for justice in cases of murdered journalists, from Daphne Caruana Galizia to Jamal Khashoggi. Before joining RSF, Rebecca campaigned extensively on human rights issues in Azerbaijan, building up NGO coalitions around mega events such as the European Games and the Formula One Grand Prix, after her work with local rights groups in Baku led to her expulsion from the country in 2012.

Rebecca has lived and worked in London, Paris, Washington DC, New York, and Baku, Azerbaijan. She holds a BA in Political Science from the University of North Texas and an MA in Human Rights from University College London. She has addressed policymakers at fora from the United Nations to the UK parliament, and has spoken at events such as the Nobel Peace Conference, the Trust Conference, the CIJ Logan Symposium, the International Journalism Festival, and the Global Conference for Media Freedom. She has appeared in media such as CNN, the BBC, Sky News, and France 24, and has written for publications including the Guardian, the New Internationalist, Prospect, the Huffington Post, openDemocracy, Deutsche Welle, and Al Jazeera.

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 a senior expert in strategic communications, public policy, and fundraising, as well as a long-standing human rights campaigner.

He currently serves as the Director of Communications at the Internet Society Foundation, a global philanthropic organization. In this role, he collaborates with a worldwide community spanning 110 countries across six continents to advance the development of the Internet as a global technical infrastructure, a resource that enriches lives, and a force for social good.

Al has held multiple senior leadership roles across various sectors. Notably, he served as the Director of Global Communications for a pioneering privacy-enhanceing tech company, the Chief Operating Officer of the Open Rights Group (ORG), and Head of Membership and Fundraising for the UK Liberal Democrats.

With a wealth of experience spanning politics, technology, international philanthropy, and human rights, Al has a proven track record of leading teams, driving strategic growth, and managing complex operations.

David Davis

Since 1987 David Davis has been a Member of Parliament representing a constituency in Yorkshire. In 1990 he joined the Government and served in both the Cabinet Office and the Foreign Office. Thereafter he served as Conservative Party Chairman, then Shadow Deputy Prime Minister, and then Shadow Home Secretary.

As Shadow Home Secretary, David defeated Tony Blair’s proposal to extend the maximum pre-charge detention period for terrorism suspects to 90 days. In 2008 he went on to resign from that position and as a Member of Parliament to trigger a by-election. He sparked a national conversation about the erosion of civil liberties, particularly concerning the government's proposal to extend the detention period for terror suspects without charge from 28 to 42 days. He was re-elected with an increased majority,

David and then-Labour MP Tom Watson, successfully challenged the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 (DRIPA) in court, arguing that it infringed upon citizens' privacy rights.

He then served as Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union between 2016 and 2018. He resigned from this post in July 2018 over a difference of principle with the Prime Minister. 

Since leaving Government, David has retaken his position as a leading figure on the Conservative backbenches, campaigning on issues including civil liberties, educational reform, tax fairness and social mobility matters.

In addition to his Master’s in business, he has a B.SC. joint honours in Molecular Science and Computer Science and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

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.