Julia Smakman (she/her, they/them) is a Senior Researcher in the Law & Policy research domain at the Ada Lovelace Institute.  They joined Ada as a Researcher in October 2023. Julia’s research focuses on the effective regulation of AI systems, including foundation models in the UK and the EU.

Julia is interested in the intersection of technology and human rights, and the fair use of algorithms, AI, and (biometric) data in policing and other public functions. They have a legal background and has completed an LLM in Constitutional and Administrative Law at the University of Amsterdam and an LLM at LSE, focusing on Human Rights and Law & Technology. Julia previously worked for Lawyers for Lawyers, leading a research project on the impact of surveillance technologies on lawyer-client confidentiality.