EAAMO'23: Keynote talk - Mayank Varia

Mayank Varia
Associate Professor in the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences at Boston University
Mayank Varia is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences at Boston University, where he leads the Hub for Civic Tech Impact. His research explores the computational and social aspects of cryptography, and his work has been featured in media outlets like CNET, The Hill, and ZDNet. He served on the United States Advisory Committee on Data for Evidence Building, and he serves on the United Nations Privacy-Preserving Techniques Task Team to promote the use of cryptographically protected data analysis and shape the laws and policies surrounding its use. He received a PhD in mathematics from MIT in 2010.
Talk: Cryptographically Protected Data Science for All
Abstract: In a data-driven society, cryptography offers the promise of making data science more accessible by allowing people to crowdsource and pool their data for the sole purpose of conducting an analysis with social benefit. In this talk, I will describe the design of equitable and scalable systems for cryptographically protected data science. I will also discuss the deployment of these systems to measure the gender and racial wage gap in Boston and to match survivors of sexual assault in a privacy-respecting manner.