UC Berkeley School of Information

#CalBigGive 2026 is coming! 💛💙

📆 Mark your calendars for 3/12/26! Big Give is our 24-hr fundraising blitz. Your gift that day will make an immediate impact where it's most needed 🌟

High-impact challenges & opportunities here: https://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/events/2026/big-give-2026

AI allows hackers to identify anonymous social media accounts, study finds New research suggests tech behind AI platforms such as ChatGPT makes it easier to perform sophisticated privacy attacks

A new paper has found that AI is allowing hackers to identify anonymous social media accounts.

“They can only link across platforms where someone consistently shares the same bits of information in both places,” said Prof. Marti Hearst. @theguardian.com #academicsky

Beyond the Tenure Debate: What do faculty career and research trajectories show? Mar 9, 2026, 1:30 pm - Xiang Zheng analyzes large-scale faculty datasets to reveal connections between tenure, incentives, and innovation.

Happening Today: 🗣️

Ph.D. candidate Xiang Zheng will present his research on the relationship between tenure and faculty research trajectories on productivity, impact, novelty, and more. #academicsky

📅 Monday, March 9, 1:30 pm - 2:40 pm
📍 210 South Hall & Online

Microsoft has a new plan to prove what's real and what's AI online A new proposal calls on social media and AI companies to adopt strict verification, but the company hasn't committed to following its own recommendations.

Microsoft shares new blueprint for AI safety to @technologyreview.com. Prof Hany Farid claims new blueprint can help improve content manipulation prevention.

“I don’t think it solves the problem, but I think it takes a nice big chunk out of it,” said Farid.

https://bit.ly/3OLrtHH

Searching for Accountability: Contested Harms, Algorithm Audits, and the Governance of Sociotechnical Systems Mar 5, 2026, 11:10 am - Emma Lurie untangles the roots of online harms in platform design, regulatory structures, and expert discourse.

Lecture Today!

Ph.D. alum Emma Lurie will examine how online harms are constructed, interpreted, and governed at the intersection of law, technology, and institutional expertise.

📅 Today, 11:10 am–12:30 pm
📍 202 South Hall and Online

Anthropic has less than 36 hours before it barrels toward untested grounds with the US government Anthropic is at risk of getting blacklisted by the US government on Friday unless it agrees to terms established by the Defense Department.

Speaking with @businessinsider.com, Prof. Deirdre Mulligan discussed rumors that the government may deploy the Defense Production Act (DPA) and designate Anthropic a supply chain risk.

"This is a pretty extraordinary use or potential use of the DPA," she said.

Melanie Walsh presents “AI Fiction in the Wild” | Berkeley Institute for Data Science (BIDS)

In the fall, @mellymeldubs.bsky.social shared insights from WildChat, a public dataset with 1M+ user-consented 'real-world' ChatGPT convos.

This event was held with @ucbids.bsky.social as part of the Cultural Analytics series.

https://bids.berkeley.edu/news/melanie-walsh-presents-“ai-fiction-wild”

Happening Friday: 🗣️

@bobltsturm.bsky.social will present his troubles around the collision of what he knows about the engineering of LLMs with how he sees them being used.

📅 March 6, 12:15 pm - 1:30 pm
📍 210 South Hall & Online

https://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/events/2026/i-am-troubled

Alumni Spring Week A weekend dedicated to fun, connection, and community for all School of Information alumni.

Join us at Alumni Spring Week, a weekend dedicated to fun, connection, & community for I School alums!

📅 March 12-14

Events:
- Virtual Town Hall w/ Dean Meyer
- Alumni Night @ Golden State Warriors
- Jazz Brunch

Get your tickets today:
https://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/events/alumni/springweek

Searching for Accountability: Contested Harms, Algorithm Audits, and the Governance of Sociotechnical Systems Mar 5, 2026, 11:10 am - Emma Lurie untangles the roots of online harms in platform design, regulatory structures, and expert discourse.

Lecture THURSDAY:

I School Ph.D. alum Emma Lurie untangles the roots of online harms in platform design, regulatory structures, and expert discourse.

📅 Thursday, March 5, 11:10 am - 12:30 pm
📍 202 South Hall & Online

Event details:

All-Alumni Jazz Brunch Mar 14, 2026, 11:00 am - Join us for mimosas, brunch, and live jazz and connect with classmates, fellow alumni, faculty, and staff.

Dear alums!

Join us for mimosas, brunch, and live jazz at one of the newest and coolest buildings on the UC Berkeley campus, as part of #SpringWeek!

📅 Sat, March 14, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
📍 Co-Lab, South Hall

Limited tickets left!

The Dragnet Era of Home Security Cameras The devices come with a trade-off: When companies store our footage, we don't always have control over how it's used or shared.

Hany Farid featured on @wsj.com speaks on how residual data from cameras exist even if the data is deleted.

“The longer you wait, the less likely you are to find it, because the computer will eventually reclaim that memory,” said Farid.

Read More: https://on.wsj.com/4qUyMKs

New Bellwether Postdoctoral Scholars Bring Bold Research Ideas to the I School Bellwether Postdoctoral Scholars Dang Nguyen, Denis Peskoff, Nel Escher, and Svenja Guhr have joined the I School to work with distinguished faculty members in research related to AI, NLP, law, and…

Introducing four new Bellwether Postdoctoral Scholars! 🥰

@digitaldang.bsky.social, Denis Peskoff, Nel Escher, and @guhrs.bsky.social will be working with Dean Meyer, Prof. Diag Davenport, Prof. Deirdre Mulligan, and Prof. David Bamman, respectively.

What is the Role of Social Identity in Large Language Models? Mar 3, 2026, 11:10 am - Zackary Okun Dunivin’s work examines cultural phenomena at scale, including political discourse, mythmaking, information systems, and organizational communication.

Lecture TOMORROW:

Dr. Zackary Okun Dunivin examines cultural phenomena at scale in LLMs. #academicsky

📅 Tuesday, March 2, 11:10 am - 12:20 pm
📍 202 South Hall & Online

https://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/events/2026/what-role-social-identity-large-language-models

A deepfake can ruin you before breakfast Digital forensics pioneer Hany Farid explains what it will take to rebuild trust in the deepfake era

Hany Farid on @sciam.bsky.social speaks on minimizing impact of deepfakes.

“What happens when we start building everything with AI? How do we trust those systems anymore?”

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/deepfakes-are-getting-faster-than-fact-checks-says-digital-forensics-expert/

LECTURE TODAY: 🗣️

Dr. @maddyjalbert.bsky.social will present her research on why we fall for online misinformation and what we can do about it. 😵‍💫 #academicsky

📅 Monday, March 2, 11:15 am - 12:25 pm
📍 210 South Hall & Online

Congratulations to MIMS student Sejin Kim, whose Berkeley Civic Innovation Challenge-winning team will join other finalists at this year's Big Ideas contest! 👏 👏 👏

The team created a product that replaces broken workflows with an AI-powered, human-in-the-loop infrastructure.

Alumni Spring Week A weekend dedicated to fun, connection, and community for all School of Information alumni.

Join us at Alumni Spring Week, a weekend dedicated to fun, connection, & community for I School alums!

📅 March 12-14

Events:
- Virtual Town Hall w/ Dean Meyer
- Alumni Night @ Golden State Warriors
- Jazz Brunch

Get your tickets today:
https://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/events/alumni/springweek

Why we fall for online misinformation and what we can do about it Mar 2, 2026, 11:15 am - Online misinformation is a growing concern. Dr. Madeline Jalbert identifies the underlying psychological processes, the role that feelings play, and the criteria people use to…

LECTURE NEXT WEEK: 🗣️

Dr. @maddyjalbert.bsky.social will present her research on why we fall for online misinformation and what we can do about it. 😵‍💫 #academicsky

📅 Monday, March 2, 11:15 am - 12:25 pm
📍 210 South Hall & Online

Event details

A group of people gathered in a bar or lounge with multiple widescreen TVs displaying sports. The room has a festive atmosphere with some tables containing food and drinks.

A group of people seated around a table at a bar with drinks. Several are smiling and wearing name tags. In the background, two screens display the Lombardi trophy, associated with the NFL.

A group of five people are gathered around a wooden table in a casual setting with basketball games playing on large screens in the background. They are smiling and appear to be enjoying their time.

A group of seven people sitting around a table in a sports bar. The table has drinks and napkins. In the background, there's a large TV showing ACC Halftime Report. The setting appears casual and relaxed.

Last week, we had the pleasure of launching our second official alumni group in Los Angeles! 🌴☀️

We are so grateful to have had our amazing I School community join us. Go Bears! 🐻

Berkeley Cybersecurity Master’s Students Develop API Security Test for Different Users Rest Assured “VentiAPI”, by Master of Information and Cybersecurity grads Karl-Johan Westhoff, Bleu Strong, Jenny Garcia, and Tyler Heslop, helps organizations find and fix vulnerabilities in their…

Check out this Q&A with our Chang-Award winning team Rest Assured “VentiAPI”!

Members Karl-Johan Westhoff, Jenny Garcia, Tyler Heslop, and Bleu Strong help organizations find and fix vulnerabilities in their web APIs.

Read the full interview:

Data Science Master’s Students Build AI Model For Elderly Users Age VoicE, by Master of Information and Data Science alums Emma Choate, Vinith Kuruppu, and David Russell, aims to serve an aging population by creating a fine-tuned model that will bridge…

Check out this Q&A with our Varian-Award winning team AgeVoicE!

Members Emma Choate, Vinith Kuruppu, and David Russell created a fine-tuned model that bridged age-related performance gaps in AI.

They discussed working as a team and future plans!

Featured MIMS Student: Octavia Smith MIMS 2027 —

Meet MIMS student ✨ Octavia Smith ✨

Octavia shares her favorite classes, what advice she'd give to a new student, and what BHM means to her.

"I try to embody their legacies by focusing on inclusion, equity, and accessibility at MIMS," she said. #BHM

UC Berkeley Cybersecurity Clinic Trains Students to Help Organizations Defend Themselves Online - CLTC UC Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity The School of Information-based program has trained 300+ students to defend nonprofits and social-sector organizations against cyber attacks — and sparked a global movement. When a group of students…

The UC Berkeley Cybersecurity Clinic has trained 300+ students to defend nonprofits and social-sector organizations against cyber attacks.

In the clinic, students learn how to apply cybersecurity practices to local organizations. @cltcberkeley.bsky.social

"Wait… what's an I School?" — a question more people have than you'd think 😅

Ph.D. student and MIMS grad Sarah Barrington breaks it all down in this episode of our "What is An I School" series.
👇
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVJzXe9CpHp/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Bellwether Postdoctoral Scholar - School of Information University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!

🚨 HIRING 🚨

The I School invites applications for up to three new full-time Bellwether Postdoctoral Scholars to start as soon as July 2026!

This program will allow researchers to develop their own research while collaborating with leading faculty.

Next review date is Feb 28! #academicsky

Measuring and Circumventing Emerging Internet Censorship Threats Feb 23, 2026, 11:30 am - Jerry Chai describes governmental censorship programs and their risks and outlines real-world circumvention and resistance strategies.

Happening Today!

Jerry Chai will examine two major censorship upgrades in China: new mechanisms for blocking fully encrypted traffic and for filtering QUIC traffic at scale. #academicsky

📅 TODAY, 11:30 am - 12:40 pm
📍 210 South Hall

Measuring and Circumventing Emerging Internet Censorship Threats Feb 23, 2026, 11:30 am - Jerry Chai describes governmental censorship programs and their risks and outlines real-world circumvention and resistance strategies.

Join us on Monday for another amazing talk! 🤩

Jerry Chai will examine two major censorship upgrades in China: new mechanisms for blocking fully encrypted traffic and for filtering QUIC traffic at scale.

📅 Feb 23, 11:30 am - 12:40 pm
📍 210 South Hall

@cltcberkeley.bsky.social just released a white paper report analyzing every cybersecurity-related bill enacted in all 50 states during the 2025 legislative sessions.

The report identifies nationwide patterns, approaches, and entities and sectors they regulate.

cltc.berkeley.edu/2026/02/19/n...

Interpersonal Security and Privacy: Emerging Threats and Sociotechnical Defenses Feb 19, 2026, 2:15 pm - Many of today’s most pervasive digital security and privacy threats come not from distant hackers, but from the individuals around us.

🚨 Lecture TODAY! 🚨

Join us for a lecture w/ @sophiestephenson.me, who will discuss interpersonal security and privacy, as interpersonal digital threats become more pervasive. #academicsky

📅 TODAY, 2:15 pm - 3:25 pm
📍 210 South Hall & Online