Tommy Cooke PH.D

I am a consultant, researcher, educator, investigator, public speaker, and podcaster that is passionately exploring the complex areas of data ethics, AI, surveillance, and privacy. 

Consulting
I consult for public and private sector organizations on the ethical use of data.  I specialize in identifying risk around the monetization and automated analysis of sensitive data. I also analyze business plans and policies to identify and overcome risky data use and data retention practices. I am an advocate for trustworthy technology as well as the responsible, accountable, and transparent use of data as a means of protecting customer, client, and public relations.

Academia
I am Principal Investigator of A Day in the Life of Metadata (ADITLOM) - a largescale multidisciplinary investigation team of university researchers from Europe, the UK, the US, and Canada - that investigates how corporations and governments harvest location data from our smartphones in real-time. ADITLOM's goal is to demystify hidden location data surveillance practices so that citizens can make informed decisions about location-based privacy. ADITLOM began as a SSHRC Postdoctoral Research award (2019-21) at the Surveillance Studies Centre, Queen's University. The project is supported by over $250,000 in research funds, including Queen's University's Wicked Ideas Award for multidisciplinary research innovation. I am also a Sociology and Liberal Arts professor, trained in communication studies, media studies, critical data studies, critical security studies, surveillance studies, and the sociology of technology. Under the publishing name "Thomas N. Cooke", I have been published in numerous leading peer-reviewed academic outputs, including International Political Sociology and Surveillance & Society. Along with Dr. Sophia Dingli, I am co-editor of Political Silence: Meanings, Functions, and Ambiguity in the Interventions Series with Routledge Press. 

Podcasting
In my spare time, I co-host What's That Noise?! podcast with my friend Al Coombs. You can find our episodes on Apple Music, Spotify, or you can sample my latest episodes by visiting my podcast page.

Voiceover
For the past three I have been providing voiceover and audiobook narration services, particularly in the areas of education, civil society, and social issues.