Heather Patterson is a Responsible Innovation manager at Facebook and former social and policy researcher at Intel Labs. Trained as a cognitive scientist (Ph.D. University of Washington) and privacy lawyer (J.D. University of California at Berkeley), she investigates the ethical, political, and social dynamics of emerging technological systems. Her primary focus is on helping product teams understand how bias, explainability, and privacy challenges associated with new technologies can entrench and amplify social inequalities.
In addition to her career in tech, Heather serves as Mayor Libby Schaaf’s Representative on Oakland’s Privacy Advisory Commission (PAC), a citizen oversight board that evaluates social costs and benefits of government requests for surveillance technology. In 2019, Heather spearheaded the development of privacy principles for Oaklanders and co-sponsored a motion that led to Oakland banning government use of facial recognition technology.
She has also served as a member of San Jose’s Privacy Advisory Task Force and directs the Social Impacts Department of IEEE Pervasive Computing.