Genesys Partners' 25th Anniversary Mock Trial Asks Did Edward Snowden Do More Good Than Harm?

NEW YORK, June 16, 2019 (Newswire.com) - ​​​​​​​​​Venture capital firm, Genesys Partners, CEO James Kollegger today announced its 25th annual dinner will “mock trial” the best ways to limit how intelligence and law enforcement agencies collect and use personal data and will debate the role that Edward Snowden has played in bringing the issue to light.

“Resolved: that Edward Snowden Did More Good than Harm” will take place June 20 at the Brooklyn Historical Society. A panel of experts are the combatants, the audience is the jury, and best-selling author Ken Auletta is the judge.

“Are the surveillance tools of law enforcement and national security officials a threat to privacy or a necessity for our security and safety?” Auletta asks.

Opposing arguments will be made by Jennifer Granick from the American Civil Liberties Union and Robert Litt from Morrison Foerster and formerly the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The jury will be senior executives from venture investing firms, venture-backed technology companies, media organizations and the burgeoning entrepreneurial community in the region.

The invitation-only event begins at 5:30 p.m. with opening comments from Cameron Kerry, former acting Secretary of Commerce and, now, the Tisch Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution. 

The mock trial and debates will be live-streamed, hosted on Internet Society Livestream.

A networking reception and dinner program will follow immediately, including a Forum session with Mike Nelson, former chief technology strategist for Microsoft, IBM, and the White House.

“This event has typically attracted a standing-room crowd,” explains Mr. Kollegger. “Social media, facial recognition, and license plate readers are generating terabytes of data every hour – and very few people understand all the ways the data is used. That lack of knowledge is feeding fear and distrust of technology, slowing adoption of new Internet and Cloud services, and undermining faith in the critical role intelligence agencies play. This discussion will examine whether more openness about how government's use of personal data could improve both privacy and national security.” 

For more information, please contact [email protected]

For more speaker, program, and ticket information, visit https://www.genesyspartnersxxv.com/

Source: Genesys Partners