Curriculum Vitae
(download PDF version here)
Michael Zimmer
School of Information Studies
University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
Bolton Hall, 5th Floor
3210 N. Maryland Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53211
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
2008- Assistant Professor, School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
2007-2008 Microsoft Resident Fellow, Information Society Project, Yale Law School
2007-2008 Post-Doctoral Associate in Law, Yale Law School
2004-2007 Student Fellow, Information Law Institute, New York University School of Law
EDUCATION
New York University
Ph.D., Media, Culture and Communication, 2007
M.A., Media Ecology, 2002
University of Notre Dame
B.B.A., Marketing, cum laude, 1994
Specialization: Gender Studies
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- Social, political, and ethical dimensions of information and communication technologies
- Social media, Web 2.0, and Web search engines
- Privacy & surveillance theory
- Information policy & ethics
- Internet studies & Internet research ethics
- Information literacy & access to knowledge
- Intellectual freedom, Library 2.0
DISSERTATION
Title: The Quest for the Perfect Search Engine: Values, Technical Design, and the Flow of Personal Information in Spheres of Mobility
Committee: Helen Nissenbaum (chair), Alex Galloway, Siva Vaidhyanathan
RESEARCH GRANTS
Co-Principle Investigator, National Science Foundation. Dissertation Improvement Grant: SES-0620772: Privacy on the Roads: Values, Technical Design and the Flow of Personal Information on the Transportation and Information Superhighways. September 2007: $12,000.
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Graduate Student Researcher, “Sensitive Information in a Wired World,” PORTIA: Privacy, Obligations, and Rights in Technologies of Information Assessment, Co-Principal Investigator: Helen Nissenbaum, New York University. Large-ITR Grant funded by The National Science Foundation, 2004-present
Research Assistant, “Ownership and Concentration in the US Communications Industry,” Principal Investigator: Eli Noam, Columbia Institute for Tele-Information, Columbia University, Summer 2002
Research Assistant, “The Expansion of Diversity: A Longitudinal Study of Local Media Outlets in Five American Communities,” report of research commissioned by Clear Channel Communications, Infinity Broadcasting Corp, submitted to the Federal Communications Commission (Comments of Viacom, Inc., Appendix A, MM Docket Nos. 01-317 and 00-244), Principal Investigator: Dave Pritchard, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Winter 2002
Research Assistant, “WEPCO Media Analysis Report,” report of research commissioned by Wisconsin Electric Power Company, Principal Investigator: Dave Pritchard, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Spring 2001
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Instructor, Information Technology Ethics, School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Seminar Leader, Reading Group in Technology, Law, Society, Values, and Design, Yale Law School, Spring 2008
Teaching Assistant, Impacts of Technology (with Prof. Helen Nissenbaum). Department of Culture & Communication, New York University, Fall 2005
Adjunct Professor, Languages of Communication: Film, Television, Radio. Department of Culture & Communication, New York University, Summer 2004
Teaching Aide, Privacy and Information and Communication Technology (with Prof. Helen Nissenbaum). Department of Culture & Communication, New York University, Spring 2004
Teaching Aide, Introduction to Mass Persuasion and Propaganda (with Prof. Terry Moran). Department of Culture & Communication, New York University, Spring 2002
OTHER ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE
Graduate Assistant, Fales Library and Special Collections, Bobst Library, New York University, 2003 – 2004
Academic Advisor, College of Arts & Sciences Undergraduate Advising Center, New York University, 2001- 2002
PUBLICATIONS
Journal Articles:
Manders-Huits, N. and Zimmer, M. (2009) Values and Pragmatic Action: The Challenges of Introducing Ethical Intelligence in Technical Design Communities, International Review of Information Ethics, 10, 37-44.
Zimmer, M. (2009) Renvois of the Past, Present and Future: Hyperlinks and the Structuring of Knowledge from the Encyclopédie to Web 2.0. New Media and Society, 11(1&2), 95-113.
Zimmer, M. (2008) Vie privée et quête de la perfection des moteurs de recherche audiovisuels. Questions de Communication, 14. [French]
Zimmer, M. (2008) The Externalities of Search 2.0: The Emerging Privacy Threats when the Drive for the Perfect Search Engine meets Web 2.0, First Monday, 13(3).
Zimmer, M. (2008) Privacy on Planet Google: Using the Theory of “Contextual Integrity” to Expose the Privacy Threats of Google’s Quest for the Perfect Search Engine, Journal of Business & Technology Law, 3(2).
Zimmer, M. (2005). Surveillance, privacy and the ethics of vehicle safety communication technologies. Ethics and Information Technology, 7(4), 201-210.
Zimmer, M. (2004). The tensions of securing cyberspace: The Internet, state power & The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace. First Monday, 9(3).
Edited Volumes and Special Issues:
Zimmer, M. (Ed.) (2008). Critical Perspectives of Web 2.0, Special issue of First Monday.
Spink, A and Zimmer, M. (Eds.) (2008). Web Searching: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
Schneider, T. and Zimmer, M. (Eds.) (2006). Identity & Identification in a Networked World. Special issue of First Monday, 11(12).
Book Chapters:
Zimmer, M. (forthcoming) Web Search Studies: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Web Search Engines, In J. Hunsinger, M. Allen, and L. Klastrup (Eds.), International Handbook of Internet Research. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
Zimmer, M. (2009) Privacy on the Roads: Mobility, Vehicle Safety Communication Technologies, and the Contextual Integrity of Personal Information Flows. In D. Matheson (Ed.), Contours of Privacy. Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 219-240.
Zimmer, M. (2008) The panoptic gaze of web search engines. In A. Spink and M. Zimmer (Eds.), Web Searching: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer, 77-99.
Book Reviews:
Zimmer, M. (2009). Review of Search Engine Society, by Alex Halavais. In New Media & Society 11(6), 1071-1074.
Zimmer, M. Review of Theorizing Surveillance: The Panopticon and Beyond, by David Lyon (Ed.). In Surveillance & Society, 5(2), 203-205.
Zimmer, M. (2008). “Privacy Protection in the Network Society: ‘Trading Up’ or a ‘Race to the Bottom’?” Review essay of C. Bennett & C. Raab, The Governance of Privacy: Policy Instruments in Global Perspective, and D. Heisenberg, Negotiating Privacy: The European Union, the United States, and Personal Data Protection. In The Information Society 24(1), 65-67.
Zimmer, M. (2004). Review of D. Solove, The digital person: Technology and privacy in the information age. In Ethics and Information Technology, 6(4), 301-302.
Zimmer, M. (2004). Review of D. Crowley & P. Heyer (Eds.), Communication in history: Technology, culture, society (4th ed.). In Explorations in Media Ecology, 3(2), 143-146.
Refereed Conference Proceedings:
Manders-Huits, N. & Zimmer, M. (2007). Values and pragmatic action: The challenges of engagement with technical design communities. In L. Hinman, P. Brey, L. Floridi, F. Grodzinsky and L. Introna (Eds.). Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference of Computer Ethics: Philosophical Enquiry. Enschede: Center for Telematics and Information Technology, 238-248.
Zimmer, M. (2005). Media Ecology and Value Sensitive Design: A Combined Approach to Understanding the Biases of Media Technology. In A. Kelso (Ed.), Proceedings of the Media Ecology Association Sixth Annual Convention.
Zimmer, M. (2005). Surveillance, privacy and the ethics of vehicle safety communication technologies. In P. Brey, F. Grodzinsky and L. Introna (Eds.). Ethics of New Information Technology: Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference of Computer Ethics: Philosophical Enquiry. Enschede: Center for Telematics and Information Technology, 435-448.
Other Publications:
Zimmer, M. (2008) Privacy and the Drive for the Perfect Audiovisual Search Engine, In IRIS: Searching for Audiovisual Content, special report of the European Audiovisual Observatory.
Zimmer, M. (2007, May 28). Privacy and Surveillance in Web 2.0: Unintended Consequences and the Rise of “Netaveillance” [guest blog post]. On the Identity Trail.
Zimmer, M. (2006, March 21). Surveillance in spheres of mobility: Privacy, technical design and the flow of personal information on the transportation and information superhighways [guest blog post]. On the Identity Trail.
Zimmer, M. (2006). The value implications of the practice of paid search. Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology.
PRESENTATIONS
Academic Conference Presentations:
“‘But the Data is Already Public’: On the Ethics of Research in Facebook.” Association of Internet Researchers Annual Conference, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October 2009.
“‘But the Data is Already Public’: On the Ethics of Research in Facebook.” International Conference of Computer Ethics: Philosophical Enquiry, Corfu, Greece, June 2009.
“Values in Design: Defining a Privacy-Aware Model for Web Access to Archives.” Society of American Archivists Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA, August 2008.
“Renvois of the Past, Present and Future: Hyperlinks, Discourse Networks, and the Structuring of Knowledge from the Encyclopédie to Web 2.0.” Pre-conference on the Long History of New Media, International Communication Association Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada, May 2008
“Surveillance 2.0: Peer-to-Peer Surveillance, Amateur Data Mining, and the (Unintended?) Consequences of Web 2.0” Society for Social Studies of Science Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada, October 2007
“The Externalities of Search 2.0: The Flow of Personal Information and the Drive for the Perfect Search Engine” American Society for Information Science and Technology Annual Meeting, Milwaukee, WI, October 2007
“Search 2.0: Web 2.0, personal information flows, and the drive for the perfect search engine” Association of Internet Researchers Conference, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, October 2007
“Values & Pragmatic Action: The Challenges of Engagement with Technical Design Communities” International Conference of Computer Ethics: Philosophical Enquiry, San Diego, CA, July 2007
“The Disciplinary Gaze of Web Search Engines” National Communication Association Annual Conference, San Antonio, TX, November 2006
“Values & Pragmatic Action: The Challenges of Engagement with Technical Design Communities” Society for Social Studies of Science Annual Conference, Vancouver, B.C, Canada, November 2006
“The Value & Ethical Implications of the Google Information Interface” Department of Culture & Communication Graduate Conference, Brooklyn, NY, November 2005
“Privacy on the Roads: How the Design of New Vehicle Safety Communication Technologies Impact Drivers’ Privacy in Public” Contours of Privacy: Social, Psychological and Normative Perspectives, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, November 2005
“The Value Implications of the ‘Google Paradigm’ for Organizing, Distributing and Accessing Information” Association of Internet Researchers Conference, Chicago, IL, October 2005
“Privacy and the Design of Vehicle Safety Communication Technologies” Society for Philosophy and Technology Conference, Delft, The Netherlands, July 2005
“Surveillance, Privacy and the Ethics of Vehicle Safety Communication Technologies” International Conference of Computer Ethics: Philosophical Enquiry, Enschede, The Netherlands, July 2005
“Media Ecology and Value Sensitive Design: A Combined Approach to Understanding the Biases of Media Technology” Media Ecology Association Conference, New York, NY, June 2005.
“Privacy and the Design of Vehicle Safety Communication Technologies” Science and Technology in Context: An Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference, Washington, DC, April 2005
“The Tensions of Securing Cyberspace” National Communication Association Annual Conference, Human Communication & Technology Division, Chicago, IL, November 2004
“Privacy and the Design of Vehicle Safety Communication Technologies” Department of Culture & Communication Graduate Conference, Brooklyn, NY, October 2004
“The Ideology of Control in Interface Technologies” MIT-RPI¬-Cornell STS Graduate Student Conference, Troy, NY, February 2004
“Current Directions in Media Ecological Research: Meeting Challenges and Exploring Boundaries” (Chair) Media Ecology Conference, Rosendale, NY, October 2003
Invited Talks:
“Thoughts on Privacy and the Google Book Settlement: What’s At Stake, Why We Need to Advocate, and What We Can Do.” The Google Books Settlement and the Future of Information Access, UC-Berkeley School of Information, August 2009.
“Library 2.0, Access to Knowledge & Patron Privacy: Avoiding a Faustian Bargain.” Library 2.0 Symposium, Information Society Project, Yale Law School, April 2009.
“Privacy and Audiovisual Search,” Expert Workshop on “Audiovisual Search: Regulatory Challenges for Audiovisual Abundance,” Institute for Information Law, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, April 2008.
“Privacy and Quaero’s Quest for the Perfect Search Engine: Threats and Opportunities,” Forum on Quaero: A Public Think Tank on the Politics of the Search Engine, Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht, The Netherlands, September 2007.
“Privacy, Contextual Integrity, and the Quest for the Perfect Search Engine,” Institute for Information Law, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, September 2007.
“Google as an Infrastructure of Dataveillance: Privacy and Legal Implications” Lunch Speaker Series, The Information Society Project, Yale Law School, New Haven, CT, December 2006
“Values & Pragmatic Action: The Challenges of Engagement with Technical Design Communities” (with Noëmi Manders-Huits) Colloquium, Philosophy Section, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands, October 2006
“Values & Pragmatic Action: The Challenges of Engagement with Technical Design Communities” Colloquium, Philosophy Department, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands, October 2006
“Surveillance in Spheres of Mobility: Ethics, Values, and the Design of Networked Vehicle Information Systems” Seminar, Department of Philosophy and the History of Technology, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, October, 2006
“The Panoptic Gaze of Web 2.0: How Web 2.0 Platforms act as Infrastructures of Dataveillance” Seminar, Social Software and Web 2.0: Critical Perspectives and Challenges for Research and Business, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark, October 2006
“Melting Watches: The Cultural Impact of the Standardization of Time” Graduate Student Research Colloquium, Department of Culture & Communication, New York University, New York, NY, February 2004
Poster Sessions:
“Personal Information & the Design of Vehicle Safety Communication Technologies: An Application of Privacy as Contextual Integrity” PORTIA – NSF Site Visit, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, May 2005
Panels Organized:
“Ways Knowing Everything About Each Other: Critical Perspectives on Web 2.0 and Social Networking” Society for Social Studies of Science Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada, October 200
“Critical Perspectives on Web 2.0: Surveillance, Discipline, Labor” Association of Internet Researchers Conference, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, October 2007
“Current Directions in Media Ecological Research: Meeting Challenges and Exploring Boundaries” Media Ecology Conference, Rosendale, NY, October 2003
AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS
Technology Innovator Grant, University Information Technology Services, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2008
Linda Elson Scholar Award for Top Student Paper, Media Ecology Association Conference, June 2005
Phyllis and Gerald LeBoff Doctoral Fellowship in Media Ecology, Steinhardt School of Education, New York University, 2002-2005
INVITED WORKSHOPS AND SEMINARS
Privacy Law Scholars Conference, George Washington University School of Law, Washington, DC, June 2008
Data Confidentiality Workshop, National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA, September 2007
Summer Doctoral Programme, Oxford Internet Institute, Harvard Law School, July 2007
Surveillance Summer Seminar, The Surveillance Project, Queens University, June 2007
Graduate Student Workshop Values in Computer Design and Information System Design, Funded by The National Science Foundation, Center for Science, Technology & Society, Santa Clara University, August 2005
Graduate WebShop Conference on the Impact of the Internet on Society, Funded by The National Science Foundation, Department of Sociology, University of Maryland, June 2003
SERVICE
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee:
Organizer, OneWebDay public event, 2008
Yale Law School:
Organizer, Information Society Project Lunch Speaker Series, 2007-2008
Co-Organizer, Symposium on Reputation Economies in Cyberspace, December, 2007
New York University:
Co-Organizer (with Tim Schneider), “Identity and Identification in a Networked World,” Multidisciplinary Graduate Student Symposium, New York University, September, 2006
Faculty Breakout Session on “Values in Technology Design,” Undergraduate Colloquium, Department of Culture & Communication, New York University, November, 2005
Workshop Panelist, “Writing the MA Thesis,” Department of Culture & Communication, New York University, April, 2005
Doctoral Student Cohort Representative, PhD Program Committee, Department of Culture & Communication, New York University, 2003-2004
Reviewer:
Journals: International Journal of Information Ethics, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, New Media & Society
Publishers: MIT Press, NYU Press, Polity
Grants: National Science Foundation (SES – Ethics and Values in Science, Engineering and Technology), Institute for Museum and Library Services, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Conferences: Association of Internet Researchers, International Communication Association (Communication and Technology division)
MEDIA COVERAGE
Boston Globe, Business Journal of Milwaukee, GQ Magazine, Montreal Gazette, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, MIT Technology Review, Austin American-Statesman, various other national and local print and radio outlets
ACADEMIC AFFILIATIONS
American Society for Information Science and Technology
Association of Internet Researchers
International Communication Association
International Society for Ethics and Information Technology
