Declan McCullagh is anAmericanentrepreneur,journalist, and software engineer.
He is the CEO and co-founder,[1] with computer scientist Celine Bursztein, of Recent Media Inc.,[2] a startup inSilicon Valley that has built a recommendation engine and iOS and Android news app. Recent, which usesartificial intelligence andmachine learning for its recommendation engine, was released[3] to early users in June 2015.
He previously worked forWired,CNET,CBS Interactive, andTime Inc. His articles about technology have been published in Reason, Playboy, the Wall Street Journal,[4]Communications of the ACM (co-authored with computer scientistPeter G. Neumann),[5] and the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy.[6]
Previously as a journalist he specialized incomputer security andprivacy. For many years, he moderated the Politech mailing list, giving commentary on the intersection of politics and technology. He is notable, among other things, for his early involvement with themedia interpretation of U.S.presidential candidateAl Gore's statement that he "took the initiative in creating theInternet".
In addition to technology, McCullagh has written approvingly of free markets and individual liberty.[7] He began writing weekly columns forCBS News entitledOther People's Money uponCBS Corporation's acquisition ofCNET Networks. In August 2009, McCullagh renamed his column toTaking Liberties, which focuses on "individual rights and liberties, including bothcivil andeconomic liberties."[8]