Talk Bio

Sam Havron (he/him) is a Privacy Engineer at Meta. As a graduate researcher at Cornell he helped establish the first computer security and privacy clinic for survivors of intimate partner violence who are facing ongoing technology abuse. His research has been published at top security conferences such as IEEE S&P and USENIX Security, and featured by media outlets including the New York Times, MIT Technology Review, and WIRED. Sam received an M.S. in Computer Science from Cornell University, and a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Virginia.

Additional information

Hi-res profile image suitable for talk announcements, press, etc. email: havron@meta.com | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/havron

Press Coverage

Outlets my research has been covered in include: The New York Times (twice), MIT Technology Review (twice), WIRED (twice), NPR (Boston), The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Vice, Malwarebytes, Vox, Slate, Smart Cities Dive, Technology Review (Deutschland), Cornell Tech Press Room, and The Cornell Chronicle.

On security & privacy in the context of intimate partner violence:

• Quoted in “Domestic Abusers Can Control Your Devices. Here's How to Fight Back." The New York Times (April 6, 2020)

• Our work is discussed in “For domestic violence victims, cyberstalking is a growing issue. This NYC clinic is helping them." The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (December 2, 2019)

• U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris tweeted about a NPR (Boston) podcast featuring our team (podcast published November 27, 2019)

• Our work is discussed in “Cornell Tech Opens Computer Security Clinic for Victims of Tech-Enabled Intimate Partner Violence," Cornell Tech Press Room (October 22, 2019)

• Quoted in “New York hilft Opfern von Stalkerware," (page 84) Technology Review (Deutschland) (October 22, 2019).

• Quoted in “NYC Has Hired Hackers to Hit Back at Stalkerware," MIT Technology Review (August 14, 2019).

• Quoted in “New Tools Help Detect Digital Domestic Abuse," Cornell Chronicle (August 13, 2019).

• Quoted in “Parental Monitoring Apps: How Do They Differ From Stalkerware?" Malwarebytes (July 22, 2019).

• Quoted in “How ‘Stalkerware’ Apps are Letting Abusive Partners Spy on Their Victims," MIT Technology Review (July 10, 2019).

• Quoted in “The Simple Way Apple and Google Let Domestic Abusers Stalk Victims," WIRED (July 2, 2019).

• Quoted in “Tech Can Impact Domestic Violence – Not Always in a Positive Way," Smart Cities Dive (May 30, 2019)

• Quoted in “Hacker Eva Galperin Has a Plan to Eradicate Stalkerware," WIRED (April 3, 2019).

• Our work is discussed in “Kaspersky Lab Will Now Alert Users to ‘Stalkerware’ Used in Domestic Abuse," Vice (April 3, 2019).

• Our work is discussed in “Apps Make it Easy for Domestic Abusers to Spy," Cornell Chronicle (July 23, 2018).

• Our lab PIs wrote “How Domestic Abusers Use Smartphones to Spy on Their Partners," Vox (May 21, 2018).

• Our work is discussed in “Hundreds of Apps Can Empower Stalkers to Track Their Victims," The New York Times (May 19, 2018).

• Karen Levy (lab PI) wrote “No Safe Haven for Victims of Digital Abuse," Slate (March 1, 2018).