Speaking CV

Annie Machon worked as an intel­li­gence officer for MI5, the UK Secur­ity Ser­vice, before resign­ing to help her former part­ner and col­league, Dav­id Shayler, blow the whistle on the crimes, incom­pet­ence and lack of account­ab­il­ity of the spies.  The story made head­lines around the world in the late 1990s.  They had to go on the run around Europe, face arrest and pris­on, and live in exile in France for 3 years.

Draw­ing on her var­ied exper­i­ences, she is now a writer, media pun­dit, polit­ic­al cam­paign­er, and lec­turer. She has a rare per­spect­ive both on the inner work­ings of gov­ern­ments, intel­li­gence agen­cies and the media, as well as a pro­found respect for all things geek and the need to pro­tect digit­al freedoms.

She is an inter­na­tion­ally-recog­nised pub­lic speak­er and lec­turer, and has delivered key­note speeches at con­fer­ences, par­lia­ments and uni­ver­sit­ies around the world on a vari­ety of issues:

 

 

  • secur­ity and intelligence
  • the war on drugs
  • the war on terror
  • the war on inter­net freedoms
  • the war on whistleblowers
  • press and media freedoms: rights and responsibilities
  • secrecy legis­la­tion
  • pri­vacy and surveillance
  • Rus­siagate”
  • the Middle East crises
  • civil liber­ties and human rights
  • total­it­ari­an­ism and police states
  • account­ab­il­ity in gov­ern­ment and business
  • eth­ics and citizenship
  • On the Run” — the per­son­al story

Con­tact: annie@anniemachon.ch

Sample Venues:

As well as hav­ing done thou­sands of media inter­views in the UK and inter­na­tion­ally, over the last 20 years her speak­ing exper­i­ence includes:

  • CPDP pan­el dis­cus­sion, Brus­sels, Janu­ary 2018
  • Fun​z​ing​.com, Lon­don, Janu­ary 2018
  • Good Tech­no­logy Col­lect­ive launch, Ber­lin, Decem­ber 2017
  • EFET pri­vacy talk, Decem­ber 2017
  • Fun​z​ing​.com, Lon­don, Novem­ber, Novem­ber 2017
  • Noth­ing to Hide” pan­el dis­cus­sion, European Par­lia­ment, Octo­ber 2017
  • Fun​z​ing​.com, Lon­don, Septem­ber 2017
  • Fun​z​ing​.com, Lon­don, August 2017
  • Fun​z​ing​.com, Lon­don, July 2017
  • Hack in Par­is Con­fer­ence, Par­is, June 2017
  • Fun​z​ing​.com, Lon­don, June 2017
  • Dis­rup­tion Net­work Lab whis­tleblower con­fer­ence, Ber­lin, May 2017
  • Fun​z​ing​.com, Lon­don, May 2017
  • Edin­burgh Uni­ver­sity Spy Week, Edin­burgh, April 2017
  • Fun​z​ing​.com talks, Lon­don, April 2017
  • RightsCon, Brus­sels, March 2017
  • Fun​z​ing​.com talk, Lon­don, March 2017
  • Digit­al Dysto­pi­as” film fest­iv­al, Hull Uni­ver­sity, Feb­ru­ary 2017
  • War­wick Uni­ver­sity, UK, Novem­ber 2016
  • Leicester Uni­ver­sity, UK, Novem­ber 2016
  • Open­ing key­note at Webbd­agerna, Stock­holm, Sweden Octo­ber 2016
  • A Good Amer­ic­an” pan­el with ex-NSA Bill Bin­ney, Lon­don, Septem­ber 2016
  • Deep polit­ics con­fer­ence, Utrecht, The Neth­er­lands, Septem­ber 2016
  • Uni­ver­sity of Monter­rey, Mex­ico webin­ar, Septem­ber 2016
  • Harvard/Freiberg Uni­ver­sity webin­ar, July 2016
  • Fight for your Right to Pri­vacy”, Spark​.me, Budva, Montenegro, May 2016
  • Amnesty Inter­na­tion­al pri­vacy talk, Han­over, Ger­many, May 2016
  • Drugo More Art & Pri­vacy Sym­posi­um, Rijeka, Croa­tia, April 2016
  • European Stu­dents for Liberty con­fer­ence, Prague, March 2016
  • LEAP UK launch, Houses of Par­lia­ment, Lon­don, Feb­ru­ary 2016
  • War­wick Uni­ver­sity, UK, Feb­ru­ary 2016
  • Birm­ing­ham Uni­ver­sity, UK, Feb­ru­ary, 2016
  • Web­stock, Wel­ling­ton, New Zea­l­and, Feb­ru­ary 2016
  • Secrecy and Gov­ernance, CPDP, Brus­sels, Janu­ary 2016
  • Human Rights in the Digit­al Age, Gold­smith’s Uni­ver­sity, Decem­ber 2015
  • Guest lec­ture on eth­ics, Lough­bor­ough Uni­ver­sity, UK, Decem­ber 2015
  • Mass Sur­veil­lance con­fer­ence, EU Par­lia­ment, Brus­sels, Decem­ber 2015
  • Inter­net Days Code Red know­ledge track, Stock­holm, Novem­ber 2015
  • EBU 10th News Assembly, Ber­lin, Octo­ber 2015
  • Com­pact con­fer­ence, Ber­lin, Octo­ber 2015
  • The Influ­en­cers fest­iv­al, Bar­celona, Octo­ber 2015
  • Big Broth­er Awards, Bel­gi­um, Octo­ber 2015
  • Run­shaw Col­lege crim­in­o­logy con­fer­ence, Lan­cashire, UK, Octo­ber 2015
  • LEAP Ger­many launch, Bundestag, Ber­lin, Septem­ber 2015
  • Sur­veil­lance & Cit­izen­ship” con­fer­ence, Cardiff Uni­ver­sity, June 2015
  • Code Red crypto-social, Ams­ter­dam, June 2015
  • LEAP talk and dis­cus­sion, Ams­ter­dam, June 2015
  • Code Red launch, Ams­ter­dam Uni­ver­sity, June 2015
  • Amnesty DE AGM with Code Red, Dresden, May 2015
  • The Lost Lec­tures, Ber­lin, May 2015
  • Women’s crypto­party, Ber­lin, May 2015
  • Cit­izen­Four” Docs Against Grav­ity debate, Warsaw, May 2015
  • The Four Wars”, Re:publica, Ber­lin, May 2015
  • Any­thing to Say?” whis­tleblower art pro­ject, Ber­lin May 2015
  • Code Red launch, C Base, Ber­lin, April 2015
  • Code Red launch, Per­u­gia Inter­na­tion­al Journ­al­ism Fest­iv­al, April 2015
  • Whis­tleblower dis­cus­sion, Per­u­gia Inter­na­tion­al Journ­al­ism Fest­iv­al, April 2015
  • Net­worked Dis­rup­tion” con­fer­ence, Ljubljana, March 2015
  • LEAP event at UN Com­mis­sion on Nar­cot­ic Drugs, March 2015
  • The Sam Adams Award for Integ­rity in Intel­li­gence, Janu­ary 2015, Berlin
  • Logan Sym­posi­um, Lon­don, Decem­ber 2014
  • Key­note at Inter­net­dagarna con­fer­ence, Stock­holm, Novem­ber 2014
  • 1971” film pan­el dis­cus­sion, Ber­lin, Novem­ber 2014
  • Pri­vacy pan­el dis­cus­sion, John Cabot Uni­ver­sity, Rome, Novem­ber 2014
  • Polit­ics and Inter­na­tion­al Stud­ies Soci­ety, Aber­deen Uni, Novem­ber 2014
  • Web Sum­mit, Guard­i­an pan­el dis­cus­sion, Dub­lin, Novem­ber 2014
  • Play­ful con­fer­ence, Lon­don, Octo­ber 2014. Asso­ci­ated Guard­i­an art­icle
  • BM For­eign Affairs, Ber­lin, Septem­ber 2014
  • Stop Watch­ing Us, Ber­lin, August 2014
  • CAAB — Inde­pend­ence Day at Men­with Hill, UK, July 2014
  • Debate at Hack in Par­is con­fer­ence, June 2014
  • Open­ing key­note, Int’l Whis­tleblowers Con­fer­ence, Ams­ter­dam, June 2014
  • Drug leg­al­isa­tion talk with Dr Freek Polak, Ams­ter­dam Uni­ver­sity, June 2014
  • Magic­al Secrecy Tour, Ber­lin, June 2014
  • Pre-Euro elec­tion anti-sur­veil­lance debate, Vienna, May 2014
  • Open­ing key­note at pre-elec­tion drug debate, Ant­werp, May 2014
  • European Harm Reduc­tion Con­fer­ence, Basel, May 2014
  • Stop Watch­ing Us, Ber­lin, May 2014
  • Inter­na­tion­al Journ­al­ism Fest­iv­al, Per­u­gia, May 2014
  • Open­ing key­note at European Media Art Fest­iv­al, Osnab­rueck, April 2014
  • Vet­er­ans for Peace AGM, Lon­don, April 2014
  • THNK School of Cre­at­ive Lead­er­ship, Ams­ter­dam, March 2014
  • Delft Uni­ver­sity talk on sur­veil­lance, March 2014
  • Oxford Uni­on debate — “Is Edward Snowden a hero?”, Feb­ru­ary 2014
  • Chelsea Man­ning Sam Adams Award cere­mony, Oxford, Feb­ru­ary 2014
  • The Whist­ler launch, Lon­don, Feb­ru­ary 2014
  • LSE pri­vacy debate “What do you have to hide?”, Lon­don, Feb­ru­ary 2014
  • Trans­me­diale Art & Tech con­fer­ence, Ber­lin, Feb­ru­ary 2014
  • On the Run” with Saint Gobain Glass Con­fer­ence, Janu­ary 2014
  • CCC The Four Wars (main stage), Ham­burg, Decem­ber 2013
  • MGI UK & Ire­land Annu­al Part­ners Con­fer­ence, Lon­don, Novem­ber 2013
  • Int’l Con­fer­ence on Drug Policy and Poli­cing, Frank­furt, Novem­ber 2013
  • Cryptofest­iv­al pan­el dis­cus­sion, Lon­don, Octo­ber 2013
  • Akzept drug policy con­fer­ence, Biele­feld, Ger­many, Octo­ber 2013
  • EU Par­lia­ment LIBE whis­tleblower hear­ings, Brus­sels, Septem­ber 2013
  • Whis­tleblower talk at the Centre for Media Stud­ies, Riga, Septem­ber 2013
  • LEAP talk at Organ­ised Crime Sym­posi­um, Cam­bridge, Septem­ber 2013
  • Inter­na­tion­al Day of Pri­vacy talk, Ber­lin, August 2013
  • The Four Wars talk at OHM 2013, the Neth­er­lands, August 2013
  • The Great Spook Pan­el at OHM 2013, the Neth­er­lands, August 2013
  • LEAP talk at OHM 2013, the Neth­er­lands, August 2013
  • Erosion of Demo­cracy talk, Isle of Man, July 2013
  • LEAP talk, East Drug Con­fer­ence, Kiev, June 2013
  • Die Deutsch-Brit­ische Gesell­schaft, Essen & Muen­ster, June 2013
  • NORML Con­fer­ence, Bris­tol, UK, May 2013
  • LEAP talk in Athens at drug harm reduc­tion con­fer­ence, May 2013
  • LEAP talk, Cham­ber of Depu­ties, Itali­an Par­lia­ment, Rome May 2013
  • The Club of Ams­ter­dam — the future for social media, April 2013
  • Make Wars His­tory, UK Par­lia­ment, April 2013
  • Die Deutsch-Britische Gesellschaft, Heidelberg, March 2013

  • Snar­rot­in (Iceland­ic Civil Liber­ties Uni­on), Feb­ru­ary 2013
  • Theo­logy Fac­ulty, Uni­ver­sity of Ice­land, Feb­ru­ary 2013
  • Social Sci­ences Fac­ulty, Uni­ver­sity of Ice­land, Feb­ru­ary 2013
  • Reyk­javik Crypto-party, Feb­ru­ary 2013
  • Iceland­ic Centre for Invest­ig­at­ive Journ­al­ism (ICIJ), Feb­ru­ary 2013
  • Oxford Uni­on Soci­ety, Sam Adams Award, Janu­ary 2013
  • Pan­el dis­cus­sion after film screen­ing, Lon­don, Decem­ber 2012
  • Drug policy con­fer­ence, Par­lia­ment of the Czech Repub­lic, Novem­ber 2012
  • Journ­al­ism sym­posi­um, Nation­al Uni­ver­sity of Ire­land, Novem­ber 2012
  • Can­nafest Expo, Prague, Novem­ber 2012
  • Inter­na­tion­al Rela­tions Soci­ety, Oxford Uni­ver­sity, Octo­ber 2012
  • LEAP talk — Sym­posi­um on Eco­nom­ic Crime, Cam­bridge, Septem­ber 2012
  • Die Deutsch-Britische Gesellschaft, Duesseldorf, August 2012 & Frankfurt, November 2012

  • Occul­ture, Brighton, July 2012
  • La con­fer­ence regionale du journ­al­isme d’en­quete, Geneva, April 2012
  • Stu­dents for Sens­ible Drug Policy (SSDP) con­fer­ence, Lon­don, April 2012
  • Tutki! invest­ig­at­ive journ­al­ism con­fer­ence, Fin­land, March 2012
  • SKUP invest­ig­at­ive journ­al­ism con­fer­ence, Nor­way, March 2012
  • Grav invest­ig­at­ive journ­al­ism con­fer­ence, Sweden, March 2012
  • Using Our Intel­li­gence”, Aiglon Col­lege, Switzer­land, Janu­ary 2012
  • Key­note at SAS​.com con­fer­ence, Scot­land, Janu­ary 2012
  • Key­note at The Big Dig journ­al­ism con­fer­ence, Copen­ha­gen, Novem­ber 2011
  • Guest lec­ture, Maastricht Uni­ver­sity, NL, Novem­ber 2011
  • Sen­at­or Mike Gravel “Dir­ect Demo­cracy” European tour, Novem­ber 2011
  • Medi­aFab­ric con­fer­ence, Prague, 2011
  • Key­note at Glob­al Invest­ig­at­ive Journ­al­ism Con­fer­ence, Kiev, Octo­ber 2011
  • Centre for Invest­ig­at­ive Journ­al­ism sum­mer school (key­note), Lon­don, July 2011
  • How the Light gets In” fest­iv­al, Hay-on-Wye, May 2011
  • Front­line Club whis­tleblower debate with Juli­an Assange, Lon­don, April 2011
  • Brit­ish Womens’ Club, Duessel­dorf, March 2011
  • Durham Uni­ver­sity Uni­on Soci­ety, Feb­ru­ary 2011
  • Brit­ish Busi­ness­men’s Club, Duessel­dorf, Feb­ru­ary 2011
  • Cam­bridge Uni­on Soci­ety (CUS), Janu­ary 2011
  • Boil­ing Frogs” — post-play talk about civil liber­ties, Lon­don, Octo­ber 2010
  • Eth­ics and Cit­izen­ship”, Bish­ops Stort­ford School, UK, Octo­ber 2008–2010
  • Bits of Free­dom, digit­al civil liber­ties cam­paign, Ams­ter­dam, Septem­ber 2010
  • INN New York Sym­posi­um “How the world changed after 9/11”, Septem­ber 2010
  • CCC Sigint tech­no­logy con­fer­ence, Cologne, May 2010
  • Under­stand­ing Deep Polit­ics con­fer­ence, Cali­for­nia May 2010
  • ETH‑0 tech­no­logy con­fer­ences, NL Janu­ary 2009 and 2010
  • Vers la Ver­ite con­fer­ence, Par­is, Septem­ber 2009
  • WikiLeaks Dis­cus­sion Pan­el, HAR, the Neth­er­lands, August 2009
  • Nation­al speak­ing tour across Canada, May-June 2009
  • The Cam­paign to Make Wars His­tory UK Tours, 2008–2009
  • Speak­ing tour, Cali­for­nia, Septem­ber 2008
  • IT Defense Con­fer­ence, Ham­burg, Janu­ary 2008
  • CCC inter­na­tion­al hack­ers’ con­fer­ence (main stage), Ber­lin, Decem­ber 2007
  • Intro­du­cing US Con­gress­wo­man Cyn­thia McKin­ney, European Tour, 2007
  • Inter­na­tion­al Islam­ic Fair, Malay­sia, July 2007
  • Wil­li­am Rodrig­uez “Last Man Out” European speak­ing tours, 2006–2007
  • Oxford Uni­on Soci­ety, 2006
  • UK Fest­ivals: Big Green Gath­er­ing 2006, East­ern Haze 2007, Hack­ing at Ran­dom NL 2009, Secret Garden Party 2008 and 2010
  • Hud­der­sfield Uni­ver­sity Intel­li­gence Stud­ies course, 2006
  • Cardiff Uni­ver­sity Journ­al­ism course, 2006
  • An Even­ing with…” at UK theatres, Clive Con­way Celebrity Pro­duc­tions, 2005
  • Café Dip­lo — La Monde Dip­lo­matique, 2005
  • Shef­field Uni­ver­sity invest­ig­at­ive journ­al­ism course, 2003
  • MPs in both the Houses of Par­lia­ment and the Scot­tish Parliament
  • UK polit­ic­al party con­fer­ences & a bit part here with Mark Thomas, 1998
  • Rotary Clubs
  • Schools
  • Nation­al Uni­on of Journ­al­ism nation­al UK conferences
  • For­eign press corps
  • Polit­ic­al rallies
  • Anti-war ral­lies
  • Trades Uni­on branch meetings