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My name is David Ruiz and I am the senior privacy advocate for Malwarebytes and a writer for Malwarebytes Labs, an online blog about cybersecurity, online privacy, hackers, data breaches, and digital rights.

I report on online privacy legislation and analyze upcoming policy proposals that could dramatically impact the online privacy rights of everyday Americans. I host and produce the Malwarebytes podcast Lock and Code. I have spoken at several conferences and summits, including the National Network to End Domestic Violence’s Technology Summit, Virus Bulletin’s “vb2020 localhost,” and the National Cybersecurity Alliance’s Cybersecurity Summit with NASDAQ.

At Malwarebytes, I direct advocacy in the company’s work with the Coalition Against Stalkerware, a group of cybersecurity vendors and domestic violence advocacy groups working together to protect users from the threats of potentially invasive apps that can spy on user activity.

As one of several co-founders of the Coalition, I have developed and offered device safety trainings for both domestic abuse survivors and the supporters who work with them, and I have met with law enforcement in the South Bay region to inform police and sheriff’s departments about the threat of stalkerware and how to find it on devices.

Before joining Malwarebytes, I was a writer and policy analyst at EFF, a nonprofit organization protecting privacy, free speech, and innovation online. I covered NSA surveillance, federal surveillance, encryption, cross-border data transfer, and anti-SLAPP lawsuits and legislation. I analyzed bills, wrote blogs, launched public engagement campaigns, and spoke with lawmakers and their staff in Washington D.C.

Before joining EFF, I reported on legal affairs in San Francisco, covering law firm mergers, in-house counsel management, and compliance with federal and state data breach, labor and employment, and cross-border investment regulations. My articles were featured in Bloomberg and Yahoo Finance and repurposed by multiple law school professors.

My work has appeared in KQED, 2600 Magazine, The East Bay Express, SFGate.com, The Sacramento Bee, and KZSU Stanford 90.1 FM. I have been interviewed and quoted by Newsweek, The Dallas Morning News, Wired UK, MIT Technology Review, CNET, The London Times, The Huffington Post, TechCrunch, ThreatPost, Geo/Socio/Politico, and several trade publications. I have also visited schools and talked to gradeschool students to give presentations about political activism and the importance of digital privacy.

I live in San Francisco and was born and raised in Southern California. I spend too much time looking at headphones.