Artist and activist Paolo Cirio, founder of the Right2Remove campaign, will be in conversation with sociologist Sarah Lageson, who has written extensively on the American criminal justice system and the punitive impact of online crime data. The two will discuss the right to privacy in the digital age, the impact of open records on individuals' civil and social engagement, and practical legislative solutions to the problem of the eternal digital punishment. They will bring into focus contemporary debates around privacy versus freedom of information, particularly in the context of Governor Cuomo’s recent, much-contested bill banning the public release of mugshots in the state of New York.

Paolo will also speak about his Obscurity project and its evolution into a wider political movement seeking to do away with public criminal records in the United States.

Paolo Cirio works with legal, economic, and cultural systems of the information society. He investigates social fields impacted by the Internet, such as privacy, democracy, finance, and intellectual property. He shows his research and intervention-based works through artifacts, photos, installations, videos, and public art. Paolo’s work has been exhibited internationally in major institutions, with recent shows including: the Gwangju Biennale, 2018; Strasbourg Biennale, 2018; MIT Museum, Boston, 2017; Tate Modern, London, 2017; C/O Berlin, 2017; Museum für Fotografie, Berlin, 2017; Münchner Stadtmuseum, 2017; Musée National d'Histoire et d'Art of Luxembourg, 2017; and two solo shows this year alone, at Giorgio Persano Gallery and Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin. His work has been featured across a wide range of art and global media oulets, including ArtForum, Frieze, The Art Newspaper, CNN, Washington Post, Der Spiegel, and Libération. He regularly gives public lectures and workshops at leading universities and art institutions.

Sarah Lageson is a sociologist who studies the criminal justice system, technology, and inequality. Her current research examines the growth of online crime data, mugshots, and criminal records that create new forms of “digital punishment.” Based in New York, Sarah is an Assistant Professor at Rutgers University-Newark School of Criminal Justice. Her work has appeared in Criminology, Law and Society Review, Law and Social Inquiry, Punishment & Society, The British Journal of Sociology, Contexts, and numerous edited volumes. A former Americorps VISTA volunteer for the Minnesota Prisoner Reentry Program and Research Coordinator for the Council on Crime and Justice in Minneapolis, Sarah is interested in mixed methods research and producing scholarship accessible to policy and broader public debate.