What I Cover
I am a Washington, D.C.-based investigative reporter. I cover U.S. national security and law enforcement agencies, focusing on the impact of technology on their activities and operations. Whether examining the secretive personal data market or the international reach of American surveillance technology, my work aims to keep people informed about what their devices and digital services are doing with their data — and what their government is doing in their name.
My Background
I am a longtime Washington reporter who has covered all three branches of the federal government. My work has taken me all over America, from the White House briefing room to the Mexican border.
Before joining ProPublica in 2026, I was an investigative reporter for The Associated Press, where I shared in a Pulitzer Prize for “Made in America, Watched Worldwide,” a series on how American-made technology fueled digital repression around the world — including an investigation into the Border Patrol’s use of hidden license plate readers to track American drivers far from the border itself.
I am the author of “Means of Control,” a book examining the alliance between data brokers and the government, which built on my award-winning privacy and surveillance reporting during my nine years as a Wall Street Journal staff writer. Earlier, I helped launch the new publication NOTUS and spent four years covering politics, the White House and the lobbying industry for Politico.
Alongside my reporting, I teach and mentor journalists at the Allbritton Journalism Institute and occasionally consult for journalists and newsrooms on digital security best practices. Protecting the people who trust me with sensitive information is a bedrock principle of how I work.
I hold degrees from Georgetown and McGill University. My hometown is Holliston, Massachusetts, and I’ll always be a New Englander at heart.