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Welcome to Simson Garfinkel's personal web site.  
Welcome to Simson Garfinkel's personal web site.
Simson L. Garfinkel serves on the Association for Computing Machinery's U.S. Technology and Policy Committee, and on its Ethics and Plagiarism Committee. He is also a science journalist who has published hundreds of articles in newspapers and magazines, and 17 books. His research interests broadly include data science ethics, digital forensics, personal information management, counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism.  ([[Bio|Read full bio.]])


==Recent Publications==
Simson L. Garfinkel serves on the Association for Computing Machinery's U.S. Technology Policy Committee and its Ethics and Plagiarism Committee. He is also a science journalist who has published hundreds of articles in newspapers and magazines, and 17 books. His research interests include data science ethics, digital forensics, personal information management, counterintelligence, and counterterrorism. ([[Bio|Read full bio.]])
* Garfinkel, Simson. 2024. “Complete Delete: In Practice, Clicking ‘Delete’ Rarely Deletes. Should It?” MIT Case Studies in Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing, September. https://doi.org/10.21428/2c646de5.26e95ae4.
 
* Garfinkel, Simson. [https://doi.org/10.2478/jos-2023-0018 "Comment to Mulalidhar and Domingo-Ferrer (2023) – Legacy Statistical Disclosure Limitation Techniques Were Not An Option for the 2020 US Census of Population And Housing"], Journal of Official Statistics, vol.39, no.3, 2023, pp.399-410. https://doi.org/10.2478/jos-2023-0018
==Recent publications==
* Abowd, J., Ashmead, R., Cumings-Menon, R., Garfinkel, S., Heineck, M., Heiss, C., Johns, R., Kifer, D., Leclerc, P., Machanavajjhala, A., Moran, B., Sexton, W., Spence, M., & Zhuravlev, P. (2022). The 2020 Census Disclosure Avoidance System TopDown Algorithm. Harvard Data Science Review, (Special Issue 2). https://doi.org/10.1162/99608f92.529e3cb9
* Garfinkel, Simson. [https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/10/20/1145399/emacs-turns-50/ EMACS turns 50]. ''MIT Technology Review'', October 20, 2026.
* Larry Medsker, Philip Koopman, Homa Alemzadeh, Simson Garfinkel, Andrew Grosso, Carl Landwehr, Sam Liles, John Murray, Cristina Nita-Rotaru, William Widen, and Alec Yasinsac. 2024. [https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3654812 ACM TechBrief: Automated Vehicles]. Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA.
* Garfinkel, Simson L. [https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aeh9238 Reanimating ELIZA, the world's first chatbot]. ''Science'', vol. 392, no. 6804, p. 1249, June 18, 2026. A review of ''Inventing ELIZA''.
* Garfinkel, S. [https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/01/04/1084227/how-technology-review-got-its-start/ How Technology Review got its start], Technology Review, January 4, 2024
* Garfinkel, Simson L., and Eugene H. Spafford. [https://doi.org/10.1145/3802605 In Memoriam: C.A.R. Hoare]. ''Communications of the ACM'', vol. 69, no. 5, pp. 26–28, May 2026.
* Garfinkel, Simson, Rvi Jain, and Aron Rosenthal, [https://www.acm.org/binaries/content/assets/public-policy/final-ustpc-digital-twin-comments-to-ostp_nitrd.pdf Comments in response to NITRD Request for Information for the Creation of a National Digital Twins R&D Strategy Plan], Association for Computing Machinery US Technology Policy Committee, July 18, 2024.
 
See my [https://simson.net/cv/ full CV and publication list] for more.


==Recent tutorials and presentations==
==Recent tutorials and presentations==
''Note: talks with the same name may (and frequently do) have different slides''
''Note: talks with the same name may (and frequently do) have different slides.''
* 2025-10-30 [https://simson.net/ref/2025/2025-10-30%20CSS25%20AI%20and%20Security%20Keynote.pdf Five Challenge Problems for AI and Cybersecurity] [https://www.iwsec.org/css/2025/ Computer Security Symposium 2025 in Okayama] [https://simson.net/ref/2025/2025-10-30%20CSS25%20AI%20and%20Security%20Keynote.key keynote] [https://simson.net/ref/2025/2025-10-30%20CSS25%20AI%20and%20Security%20Keynote.pptx pptx]
* 2025-10-30 [https://simson.net/ref/2025/2025-10-30%20CSS25%20AI%20and%20Security%20Keynote.pdf Five Challenge Problems for AI and Cybersecurity], [https://www.iwsec.org/css/2025/ Computer Security Symposium 2025 in Okayama]. [https://simson.net/ref/2025/2025-10-30%20CSS25%20AI%20and%20Security%20Keynote.key Keynote] · [https://simson.net/ref/2025/2025-10-30%20CSS25%20AI%20and%20Security%20Keynote.pptx PowerPoint]
* 2024-09-20 [https://simson.net/ref/2024/2024-09-20%20Exploring%20the%20Limits%20of%20DP.pdf Exploring the limits of Differential Privacy]
* 2024-09-20 [https://simson.net/ref/2024/2024-09-20%20Exploring%20the%20Limits%20of%20DP.pdf Exploring the Limits of Differential Privacy]
* 2024-06-03 [https://simson.net/ref/2024/2024-06-03%20Harvard%20Innovation.pdf Driving Innovation from the University to Government and the Enterprise: Tricks, Traps and Techniques]
* 2024-06-03 [https://simson.net/ref/2024/2024-06-03%20Harvard%20Innovation.pdf Driving Innovation from the University to Government and the Enterprise: Tricks, Traps and Techniques]
* 2023-12-18 [https://simson.net/ref/2023/2023-12-18%20DP%20Theory%20and%20Practice.pdf Differential Privacy Theory and Practice] [https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/research/security/seminars/archive/video/2023-12-18-t206935.html video]
* 2023-12-18 [https://simson.net/ref/2023/2023-12-18%20DP%20Theory%20and%20Practice.pdf Differential Privacy Theory and Practice]. [https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/research/security/seminars/archive/video/2023-12-18-t206935.html Video]


See also my [https://simson.net/ref/ Presentations Archive].
See also my [https://simson.net/ref/ Presentations Archive].


==Recent Notable publications==  
==Selected publications==
Academic:
; Academic
# Clark, David. D, Simson Garfinkel, and KC Claffy, [https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10680197 Differential Privacy, Firm-Level Data, and the Binomial Pathology], IEEE Security and Privacy, January 2025.
# Clark, David D., Simson Garfinkel, and KC Claffy. [https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10680197 Differential Privacy, Firm-Level Data, and the Binomial Pathology]. ''IEEE Security & Privacy'', January 2025.
# Garfinkel, Simson. 2024. “Complete Delete: In Practice, Clicking ‘Delete’ Rarely Deletes. Should It?” MIT Case Studies in Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing, September. https://doi.org/10.21428/2c646de5.26e95ae4.
# Garfinkel, Simson. [https://doi.org/10.21428/2c646de5.26e95ae4 Complete Delete: In Practice, Clicking ‘Delete’ Rarely Deletes. Should It?] ''MIT Case Studies in Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing'', September 2024.
# Garfinkel, Simson. [https://doi.org/10.2478/jos-2023-0018 "Comment to Mulalidhar and Domingo-Ferrer (2023) – Legacy Statistical Disclosure Limitation Techniques Were Not An Option for the 2020 US Census of Population And Housing"], Journal of Official Statistics, vol.39, no.3, 2023, pp.399-410. https://doi.org/10.2478/jos-2023-0018
# Garfinkel, Simson. [https://doi.org/10.2478/jos-2023-0018 Comment to Mulalidhar and Domingo-Ferrer (2023) – Legacy Statistical Disclosure Limitation Techniques Were Not An Option for the 2020 US Census of Population And Housing]. ''Journal of Official Statistics'', vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 399–410, 2023.
#Garfinkel, Simson. [https://mit-serc.pubpub.org/pub/differential-privacy-2020-us-census/release/1 Differential Privacy and the 2020 Census], MIT Schwarzman College of Computing Case Studies in Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing, Winter 2022.
# Garfinkel, Simson. [https://mit-serc.pubpub.org/pub/differential-privacy-2020-us-census/release/1 Differential Privacy and the 2020 Census]. ''MIT Case Studies in Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing'', Winter 2022.
#Bowen, Claire McKay and Simson Garfinkel, [https://www.ams.org/journals/notices/202110/rnoti-p1727.pdf The Philosophy of Differential Privacy], AMS Notices, November 2021.
# Abowd, John M., et al. [https://doi.org/10.1162/99608f92.529e3cb9 The 2020 Census Disclosure Avoidance System TopDown Algorithm]. ''Harvard Data Science Review'', Special Issue 2, 2022.
History of Computing, Technology and MIT:
# Bowen, Claire McKay, and Simson Garfinkel. [https://www.ams.org/journals/notices/202110/rnoti-p1727.pdf The Philosophy of Differential Privacy]. ''Notices of the American Mathematical Society'', November 2021.
# Garfinkel, S. [https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/04/22/1114502/m-i-t-rah-rah-rah-technology/ “M.I.T., rah, rah, rah. Technology!”], April 22, 2025
# Garfinkel, S. [https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/02/25/1111234/mit-prepares-for-nuclear-attack/ MIT prepares for nuclear attack], February 25, 2025
# Garfinkel, S. [https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/12/23/1107304/mits-mostly-secret-society/ MIT’s (mostly) secret society], December 23, 2024
# Garfinkel, S. [https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/08/27/1095666/this-is-mit-and-yes-we-have-bananas/ This is MIT and yes, we have bananas], August 27, 2024
# Garfinkel, S. [https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/06/25/1093149/editor-of-the-tech-becomes-president-of-mit/ Editor of The Tech becomes president of MIT], Technology Review, June 25, 2024


; History of computing, technology, and MIT
{| width="100%"
# Garfinkel, Simson. [https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/04/22/1114502/m-i-t-rah-rah-rah-technology/ “M.I.T., rah, rah, rah. Technology!”] ''MIT Technology Review'', April 22, 2025.
|-  
# Garfinkel, Simson. [https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/02/25/1111234/mit-prepares-for-nuclear-attack/ MIT prepares for nuclear attack]. ''MIT Technology Review'', February 25, 2025.
| width="50%" style="vertical-align:top" |
# Garfinkel, Simson. [https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/12/23/1107304/mits-mostly-secret-society/ MIT's (mostly) secret society]. ''MIT Technology Review'', December 23, 2024.
# Garfinkel, Simson. [https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/08/27/1095666/this-is-mit-and-yes-we-have-bananas/ This is MIT and yes, we have bananas]. ''MIT Technology Review'', August 27, 2024.
# Garfinkel, Simson. [https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/06/25/1093149/editor-of-the-tech-becomes-president-of-mit/ Editor of The Tech becomes president of MIT]. ''MIT Technology Review'', June 25, 2024.
# Garfinkel, Simson. [https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/01/04/1084227/how-technology-review-got-its-start/ How Technology Review got its start]. ''MIT Technology Review'', January 4, 2024.


{| width="100%"
; Technology policy
|-  
* Medsker, Larry, et al. [https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3654812 ACM TechBrief: Automated Vehicles]. Association for Computing Machinery, 2024.
| width="50%" style="vertical-align:top" |
* Garfinkel, Simson, Ravi Jain, and Arnon Rosenthal. [https://www.acm.org/binaries/content/assets/public-policy/final-ustpc-digital-twin-comments-to-ostp_nitrd.pdf Comments in response to NITRD Request for Information for the Creation of a National Digital Twins R&D Strategy Plan]. ACM U.S. Technology Policy Committee, July 18, 2024.


==Current projects==  
{| style="width:100%;"
; Software and systems:
|-
* Cleaning up the [https://github.com/sleuthkit/sleuthkit Sleuth Kit Github site] Pull Requests and outstanding Issues.
| style="width:50%; vertical-align:top;" |
* ''Differential Privacy'' (MIT Press 2025)
 
==Current projects==
; Software and systems
* [https://github.com/ustpc/electric-mc electric-MC (Electric Manuscript Central)], a Chrome extension that improves ScholarOne Manuscripts for reviewers and editors, with a clearer interface, manuscript notes, and tools for assigning associate editors.
* [https://github.com/simsong/email-collection-toolkit Email Collection Toolkit (ECT)], software for collecting, preserving, deduplicating, and searching email archives. It stores messages in standard MBOX files with provenance and integrity checks. Under active development.
* Cleaning up pull requests and outstanding issues for [https://github.com/sleuthkit/sleuthkit The Sleuth Kit].
* ''Differential Privacy'' (MIT Press, 2025).
* [https://github.com/Plant-Tracer/webapp/ Plant-Tracer], a computer vision application for plant movement labs.
* [https://github.com/Plant-Tracer/webapp/ Plant-Tracer], a computer vision application for plant movement labs.


; Teaching
; Teaching
* [https://firstyearseminarprogram.college.harvard.edu/directory/defense-against-the-dark-arts-cybersecurity-edition/ Co-Teaching Defense of the Dark Arts (Cybersecurity Edition)] at Harvard.
* [https://firstyearseminarprogram.college.harvard.edu/directory/defense-against-the-dark-arts-cybersecurity-edition/ Co-teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts (Cybersecurity Edition)] at Harvard.
* [https://scholar.harvard.edu/mikesmith/classes/ac221-critical-thinking-data-science Co-Teaching AC221 Critical Thinking in Data Science] at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
* [https://scholar.harvard.edu/mikesmith/classes/ac221-critical-thinking-data-science Co-teaching AC221, Critical Thinking in Data Science], at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
* Co-Teaching CSCI E-11, Frontiers in Computer Science at Harvard Extension
* Co-teaching CSCI E-11, Frontiers in Computer Science, at Harvard Extension School.


; Academic Research
; Academic research
* Article on https://digitalcorpora.org/ for a forensics journal.
* An article about [https://digitalcorpora.org/ DigitalCorpora] for a digital forensics journal.


You may also be interested in my [[Future Projects]]
You may also be interested in my [[Future Projects]].
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==Completed projects==  
| style="width:50%; vertical-align:top;" |
 
==Completed projects==
* bulk_extractor 2.0
* bulk_extractor 2.0
* tcpflow 2.0
* tcpflow 2.0
* ''Law and Policy for the Quantum Age'', Hoofnagle & Garfinkel, (Cambridge University Press, 2021)
* ''Law and Policy for the Quantum Age'', Chris Jay Hoofnagle and Simson Garfinkel (Cambridge University Press, 2021).
* [https://github.com/simsong/tcpflow tcpflow], a TCP/IP session reassembler (2006--2014)
* [https://github.com/simsong/tcpflow tcpflow], a TCP/IP session reassembler (2006–2014).
* [https://github.com/simsong/bulk_extractor bulk_extractor], a high-speed feature extractor (2006--2014)
* [https://github.com/simsong/bulk_extractor bulk_extractor], a high-speed feature extractor (2006–2014).
* [https://forensics.wiki/tags/#digital-forensics-xml Digital Forensics XML] (2005--2012)
* [https://forensics.wiki/tags/#digital-forensics-xml Digital Forensics XML] (2005–2012).
* [https://forensics.wiki/ The Forensics Wiki], founder and maintainer (2005--2014)
* [https://forensics.wiki/ The Forensics Wiki], founder and maintainer (2005–2014).
* [https://www.simson.net/ref/sbook5 SBook5], a free-format address book for MacOS. (1991--2006)  
* [https://www.simson.net/ref/sbook5 SBook5], a free-format address book for macOS (1991–2006).
* [https://forensics.wiki/aff/ AFF], The Advanced Forensic Format (for storing digital evidence)
* [https://forensics.wiki/aff/ AFF], the Advanced Forensic Format for storing digital evidence.
* [https://www.simson.net/ref/2001/agenda/ Agenda], an early conference scheduling app for PalmOS. (2001)  
* [https://www.simson.net/ref/2001/agenda/ Agenda], an early conference scheduling app for PalmOS (2001).
* [https://github.com/simsong/notepaper Print your own notepaper] (2003, updated in 2020!)
* [https://github.com/simsong/notepaper Print your own notepaper] (2003, updated in 2020).
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Bibtex Updated MediaWiki BibText Extension] (2007)
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Bibtex Updated MediaWiki BibTeX Extension] (2007).
* [https://www.simson.net/ref/NeXT/nextworld NeXTWORLD Magazine] (1991--1993)  
* [https://www.simson.net/ref/NeXT/nextworld NeXTWORLD Magazine] (1991–1993).
* [https://www.simson.net/ref/1995/10spring/ 10 Spring Street], Vineyard Haven, Virtual Tour (1995)  
* [https://www.simson.net/ref/1995/10spring/ 10 Spring Street], Vineyard Haven, virtual tour (1995).
* [[docx_steg]] Tools for hiding information in docx files and printing their contents (2008)
* [[docx_steg|Tools for hiding information in DOCX files and printing their contents]] (2008).
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{| width="100%"  
{| style="width:100%;"
|-  
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==Resources For Students==  
==Resources for students==
* [[Current Toolset]] -- The tools that I use in my research  
* [[Current Toolset]] — The tools that I use in my research
* [[Open Source Computer Science Books]] -- A good list
* [[Open Source Computer Science Books]] — A good list
* [[Mac Resources]]  
* [[Mac Resources]]
* [[LaTeX Resources]]  
* [[LaTeX Resources]]
* [[Python Resources]]  
* [[Python Resources]]
* [[Web Resources]]  
* [[Web Resources]]
* [[Windows Resources]]  
* [[Windows Resources]]
* [[XML Resources]]  
* [[XML Resources]]
* [[Student Resources]]
* [[Student Resources]]
* [http://www.cis.syr.edu/~wedu/seed/index.html SEED: Developing Instructional Laboratories for Computer Security Education]
* [http://www.cis.syr.edu/~wedu/seed/index.html SEED: Developing Instructional Laboratories for Computer Security Education]
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==Where to find Simson Garfinkel online==  
| style="width:50%; vertical-align:top;" |
* [https://twitter.com/xchatty @xchatty] on Twitter
 
* <html><a rel="me" href="https://newsie.social/@xchatty">@xchatty@newsie.social on Mastodon</a> </html>
==Where to find Simson Garfinkel online==
* [https://twitter.com/xchatty @xchatty] on X (Twitter)
* <html><a rel="me" href="https://newsie.social/@xchatty">@xchatty@newsie.social on Mastodon</a></html>
* [https://github.com/simsong simsong] on GitHub
* [https://github.com/simsong simsong] on GitHub
* [https://www.technologyreview.com/search.aspx?s=simson+garfinkel Articles in Technology Review]
* [https://www.technologyreview.com/author/simson-garfinkel/ Articles in MIT Technology Review]
* [https://portal.acm.org/author_page.cfm?id=81100415667&coll=GUIDE&dl=GUIDE&CFID=18863541&CFTOKEN=44283461 ACM Digital Library Author Profile]
* [https://portal.acm.org/author_page.cfm?id=81100415667&coll=GUIDE&dl=GUIDE&CFID=18863541&CFTOKEN=44283461 ACM Digital Library author profile]
* [https://www.informatik.uni-trier.de/~ley/db/indices/a-tree/g/Garfinkel:Simson_L=.html DBLP Profile]
* [https://www.informatik.uni-trier.de/~ley/db/indices/a-tree/g/Garfinkel:Simson_L=.html DBLP profile]
* [https://www.linkedin.com/pub/dir/?last=Garfinkel&first=Simson LinkedIn Profile]  
* [https://www.linkedin.com/pub/dir/?last=Garfinkel&first=Simson LinkedIn profile]
* [https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=36867821700 Scopus]
* [https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=36867821700 Scopus]
* [https://stackexchange.com/users/21138/vy32?tab=accounts StackExchange]
* [https://stackexchange.com/users/21138/vy32?tab=accounts StackExchange]
* [https://www.csauthors.net/simson-l-garfinkel/ csauthors.net] (Both my [https://spaf.cerias.purdue.edu/miscellaneous.html Erdös number] and my [https://www.csauthors.net/distance/simson-l-garfinkel/edsger-w-dijkstra Dijkstra numbers] are three.)
* [https://www.csauthors.net/simson-l-garfinkel/ csauthors.net] (Both my [https://spaf.cerias.purdue.edu/miscellaneous.html Erdős number] and my [https://www.csauthors.net/distance/simson-l-garfinkel/edsger-w-dijkstra Dijkstra number] are three.)
* [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=87fGQ0AAAAAJ&hl=en Google Scholar]
* [https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=87fGQ0AAAAAJ&hl=en Google Scholar]
* [https://muckrack.com/simsong Muckrack]
* [https://muckrack.com/simsong Muck Rack]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simson_Garfinkel Wikipedia Article on Simson Garfinkel]  
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simson_Garfinkel Wikipedia]
* [https://orcid.org/ ORCID]: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1294-2831
* [https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1294-2831 ORCID: 0000-0003-1294-2831]
* [https://www.mendeley.com/profiles/simson-garfinkel/ Mendeley]
* [https://www.mendeley.com/profiles/simson-garfinkel/ Mendeley]
* BibTeX: [http://simson.net/ref/bibtex/garfinkel.bib Garfinkel Academic] [http://simson.net/ref/bibtex/garfinkel_cso.bib CSO Magazine] [http://simson.net/ref/bibtex/garfinkel_globe.bib Boston Globe] [http://simson.net/ref/bibtex/garfinkel_nextworld.bib NeXTWORLD] [http://simson.net/ref/bibtex/garfinkel_tr.bib Technology Review] [http://simson.net/ref/bibtex/garfinkel_other.bib Other]
* BibTeX: [https://simson.net/ref/bibtex/garfinkel.bib Academic] · [https://simson.net/ref/bibtex/garfinkel_cso.bib CSO Magazine] · [https://simson.net/ref/bibtex/garfinkel_globe.bib Boston Globe] · [https://simson.net/ref/bibtex/garfinkel_nextworld.bib NeXTWORLD] · [https://simson.net/ref/bibtex/garfinkel_tr.bib Technology Review] · [https://simson.net/ref/bibtex/garfinkel_other.bib Other]
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__NOTOC__
__NOTOC__

Latest revision as of 07:14, 4 November 2026

Welcome to Simson Garfinkel's personal web site.

Simson L. Garfinkel serves on the Association for Computing Machinery's U.S. Technology Policy Committee and its Ethics and Plagiarism Committee. He is also a science journalist who has published hundreds of articles in newspapers and magazines, and 17 books. His research interests include data science ethics, digital forensics, personal information management, counterintelligence, and counterterrorism. (Read full bio.)

Recent publications

See my full CV and publication list for more.

Recent tutorials and presentations

Note: talks with the same name may (and frequently do) have different slides.

See also my Presentations Archive.

Selected publications

Academic
  1. Clark, David D., Simson Garfinkel, and KC Claffy. Differential Privacy, Firm-Level Data, and the Binomial Pathology. IEEE Security & Privacy, January 2025.
  2. Garfinkel, Simson. Complete Delete: In Practice, Clicking ‘Delete’ Rarely Deletes. Should It? MIT Case Studies in Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing, September 2024.
  3. Garfinkel, Simson. Comment to Mulalidhar and Domingo-Ferrer (2023) – Legacy Statistical Disclosure Limitation Techniques Were Not An Option for the 2020 US Census of Population And Housing. Journal of Official Statistics, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 399–410, 2023.
  4. Garfinkel, Simson. Differential Privacy and the 2020 Census. MIT Case Studies in Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing, Winter 2022.
  5. Abowd, John M., et al. The 2020 Census Disclosure Avoidance System TopDown Algorithm. Harvard Data Science Review, Special Issue 2, 2022.
  6. Bowen, Claire McKay, and Simson Garfinkel. The Philosophy of Differential Privacy. Notices of the American Mathematical Society, November 2021.
History of computing, technology, and MIT
  1. Garfinkel, Simson. “M.I.T., rah, rah, rah. Technology!” MIT Technology Review, April 22, 2025.
  2. Garfinkel, Simson. MIT prepares for nuclear attack. MIT Technology Review, February 25, 2025.
  3. Garfinkel, Simson. MIT's (mostly) secret society. MIT Technology Review, December 23, 2024.
  4. Garfinkel, Simson. This is MIT and yes, we have bananas. MIT Technology Review, August 27, 2024.
  5. Garfinkel, Simson. Editor of The Tech becomes president of MIT. MIT Technology Review, June 25, 2024.
  6. Garfinkel, Simson. How Technology Review got its start. MIT Technology Review, January 4, 2024.
Technology policy

Current projects

Software and systems
  • electric-MC (Electric Manuscript Central), a Chrome extension that improves ScholarOne Manuscripts for reviewers and editors, with a clearer interface, manuscript notes, and tools for assigning associate editors.
  • Email Collection Toolkit (ECT), software for collecting, preserving, deduplicating, and searching email archives. It stores messages in standard MBOX files with provenance and integrity checks. Under active development.
  • Cleaning up pull requests and outstanding issues for The Sleuth Kit.
  • Differential Privacy (MIT Press, 2025).
  • Plant-Tracer, a computer vision application for plant movement labs.
Teaching
Academic research

You may also be interested in my Future Projects.

Completed projects

Resources for students

Where to find Simson Garfinkel online