Join Free Word and Liberty for a discussion on what ways our private data can be used against us.

How do we navigate through a world where our personal data is misused by the state?

And how does this invasion of our privacy impact vulnerable communities in particular?

Join Free Word and Liberty for an evening with former Barbican Young Poet Kareem Parkins-Brown, Liberty’s Corey Stoughton and Gracie Bradley, and Rosalind Comyn from Rights Watch, as they explore how hostile environments, the Gangs Matrix and the UK’s counter-terror policy ‘Prevent’ impact on our human rights.

Corey Stoughton is Liberty’s Acting Director. Prior to this, she was the Director of Advocacy, leading Liberty’s Advocacy team and supervising legal, policy and campaigning work. Before joining Liberty, she was senior counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Justice under President Obama. Corey also worked at the New York affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, where she litigated on a broad range of US constitutional and human rights issues. She has spent time as an adjunct clinical professor of law at New York University School of Law. She graduated from Harvard Law School in 2002 and the University of Michigan in 1998. Corey joined the Liberty team in order to continue to work on issues close to her heart after moving to the UK.

Gracie Bradley came to Liberty in July 2017 and leads Liberty’s work to oppose the Government’s “hostile environment” policies on immigration. Before joining Liberty, Gracie worked in casework, research and policy across several NGOs to support survivors of torture and working migrants to navigate the UK’s immigration system. She also trained public officials and third sector workers to use the Human Rights Act in their day-to-day work. She holds a Masters in Human Rights from the LSE and a degree in Philosophy & French from Oxford University. Gracie joined the Liberty team after collaborating with us for Against Borders for Children on the Boycott School Census campaign. Her work at the frontline of small migrants’ rights organisations made her keenly aware of the need for bold, unapologetic campaigning for systemic change.

Hannah Couchman leads Liberty’s advocacy work on technology and human rights - including surveillance, the use of technology in policing and data rights. She was previously a criminal law barrister, before moving into justice policy and working on digitisation of the criminal justice system. Prior to her practice at the Bar, Hannah was a prison law caseworker and Assistant Director of a children’s rights charity. She now volunteers with a duty scheme to provide advice, support and assistance to children and vulnerable adults detained in police custody. Hannah joined Liberty to work with an organisation which fearlessly champions freedom, fairness and compassion in policy-making.

Rosalind Comyn is a Legal and Policy Officer at Rights Watch (UK), where she is responsible for research, advocacy and strategic litigation on counter-terrorism and human rights, global warfare, and post-conflict justice. Prior to Rights Watch, Rosalind worked at the freedom of expression NGO, ARTICLE 19, and was a research assistant for the leading practitioner text on judicial review in Ireland. Rosalind has an LLB in Law and Political Science from Trinity College Dublin and an LLM in International Law from the University of Cambridge.

Kareem Parkins-Brown is a former Barbican Young Poet whose work has featured at venues across London including Roundhouse, Tate Britain and the Royal Academy of Arts. His desert island films are Mean Girls, Carlito’s Way and Serpico. He’s still finding the answer to, “So, what do you write about?”