Professor Yang Wang has been appointed by Governor JB Pritzker to serve on the newly created Autism Data Privacy Advisory Group, established under Executive Order 2025-02 to strengthen protections for the civil and human rights of people with autism in Illinois.
"More than ever before, protecting the rights and dignity of people with autism requires both innovation and vigilance," said Governor JB Pritzker. "This Advisory Group reflects the breadth of expertise and lived experience we need to make Illinois a national leader in autism rights and data privacy. I am grateful to these distinguished volunteers for their service."
The Advisory Group brings together thirteen leaders in medicine, law, education, advocacy, and technology to safeguard sensitive data and advance privacy, opportunity, and inclusion for Illinoisans with autism.
"I'm glad to see that the State of Illinois is paying attention to the important issue of data privacy for autistic individuals," said Wang. "I look forward to working with other advisors to create good policies and promote best practices of data privacy. This could set an example for other parts of the country and the world."
"This group will play a crucial role in shaping ethical, effective policies around data use that protect families while improving services," said Grace Hou, Deputy Governor for Health and Human Services. "We look forward to their insights and recommendations."
The Advisory Group will begin meeting this fall and will deliver recommendations to the Governor over the next year.
Wang's research interests include usable privacy and security technologies, social computing, human-computer interaction, and explainable artificial intelligence. His research has gained support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Health and Human Services, Google, Meta, Alcatel-Lucent, and The Privacy Projects. He has appeared in news outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, BBC, and China Daily. Wang earned his PhD in information and computer science from the University of California, Irvine.