Doc Star of the Month: David Carroll, 'The Great Hack'

When the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke, many of us were alarmed to learn the extent to which we’d transformed from consumer to product in the digital age. Few of us, however, were inclined to take on those greedy behemoths mining our online data in the ravenous mode of the copper barons of old. Fortunately, there was David Carroll, an associate professor of media design, and director of the MFA Design and Technology graduate program at the School of Art, Media and Technology at Parsons The New School for Design. In other words, the perfect foil for Big Tech Goliath.

And in The Great Hack, the latest from Academy Award nominees Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim (The Square, Control Room, startup.com), we’re given a front-row seat to the battle. The team follow this unlikely hero on his transnational quest for accountability — via a lawsuit demanding that Cambridge Analytica unmask the very source of its data.

Which is precisely why Documentary is honored to feature this voice for the greater good as our July Doc Star of the Month. (The Great Hack debuted July 24 on Netflix along with a limited theatrical release.)

To read my interview visit Documentary magazine.