Kate Bertash

Technology, Privacy, & Art

Selected Publications, Media, Press & Conference Talks

I. Authored & Co-Authored Publications

Contraception, Vol. 153 - “Digital and data security for abortion research in a post-Dobbs era - A primer for qualitative researchers” (2025)
Co-author - peer-reviewed guidance for abortion researchers on minimizing digital risk, harm-reduction for sensitive health data, and building secure research workflows amidst criminalization pressures.

Broken Pencil Magazine - “Cow-nter Surveillance: A DIY Guide to Messing with Surveillance Systems” (2021)
Author - a playful, accessible guide to anti-surveillance art and design techniques that exploit computer-vision weaknesses, situating fashion and DIY methods as tools for civil resistance.

Los Angeles Times - “The end of Roe means we’ll be criminalized for more of our data” (2022)
Op-Ed Co-author - A widely circulated piece discussing how search engines, data brokers, and location apps can facilitate abortion criminalization and which reforms and protections are urgently needed.

Spitfire Strategies - Narrative Guide: “Abortion Criminalization and Tech Surveillance” (2025)
Contributor - Narrative and strategic communications guide explaining the overlap of surveillance, data brokerage, policing, and abortion criminalization.

II. Media Appearances (Podcasts, Radio, On-Camera Interviews)

How to Fix the Internet, EFF Podcast - “Digital Autonomy for Bodily Autonomy” (May 2025)
Guest interview connecting digital rights, bodily autonomy, abortion access, trans health, rural surveillance, and adversarial design.

The Final Straw Radio - “Pushing Back on Flock Cameras” (April 2025)
Deep explainer interview and companion zine on ALPR systems, predictive policing, rural surveillance creep, and community organizing tactics.

Ashes Ashes Podcast - “Face Off” - Episode 107 (Interview on Facial Recognition & Adversarial Fashion at 58:58) (2020)
Long-form conversation on the limits of biometric surveillance and countermeasures in grassroots movements.

Reason - “How Fashion Designers are Thwarting Facial Recognition Surveillance” (2020)

Video interview on rise of anti-surveillance fashion and its role in inspiring understanding, innovation to support social change movements and protests.

III. Public Talks, Panels, & Events

DEFCON 31 - “Reproductive Justice in the Age of Digital Surveillance - McSherry, Bertash, Barnett” (2023)

Panelist - Panel explaining how data pipelines, law-enforcement integrations, and private-sector surveillance interact to criminalize pregnancy outcomes, how tech communities can intervene.

Harvard Berkman Klein Center - “Lawyering After Dobbs: Securing Care & Digital Privacy” (2022)
Panelist - Analysis of threat models facing people seeking care and the legal strategies needed to protect providers, helpers, and digital ecosystems.

Georgetown Law - The Color of Surveillance: Policing of Abortion and Reproduction (2022)
Panelist - Panel examining the historical and contemporary surveillance of pregnancy and reproductive autonomy.

Crypto & Privacy Village @ DEFCON 30 “Abortion Surveillance in Post-Roe America - Jailed by a Google Search - Part 2” (2022)

Speaker - Talk on real-world cases where search history, DMs, and digital traces have been weaponized to criminalize pregnancy outcomes.