Gautam Hans is Policy Counsel and Director of CDT-SF at the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT), promoting CDT’s presence on the West Coast as a leader in technology policy and advocacy. His work focuses on digital civil liberties policy, outreach, and development.

Gautam joined CDT in 2012 as the Ron Plesser Fellow, focusing on consumer privacy issues, including mobile technology, government regulation and enforcement, and the intersection of privacy and free speech. As the Plesser Fellow, he advocated CDT’s consumer privacy agenda in multistakeholder convenings, regulatory filings, conferences, and the press. Prior to joining CDT, Gautam interned at the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California.

In 2006, Gautam earned his B.A. in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University. He then worked as an Editorial Assistant at the Knopf Group of Random House. While in law school, he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Michigan Telecommunications and Technology Law Review and worked as a student attorney in the Michigan Clinical Law Program and the Entrepreneurship Clinic. In 2012, Gautam earned his J.D., cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School and his M.S. in Information from the University of Michigan School of Information. He is a member of the Maryland bar.