Dan Shearer

The question, Who ought to be in control, and how do we keep it that way? appears throughout AI, tech giant monopolies, healthcare and privacy law. I try to change the usual answers.

CV and background. Contact me at dan@shearer.org ↗.

If you’re here about…

…open source & computer science: LumoSQL applies today the lessons from Samba and its history, at much larger scale. Not-forking makes it possible to combine code trees in an ongoing way without forking them. In security analysis I study developer intent, for which I have un-archived and re-published some Margaret Hamilton articles. Reversible execution helps diagnose difficult problems by running computer systems backwards.

…AI ethics or agentic systems: In my view AI models should never be trusted, and reliable structure improves on what AI companies offer. I work on the Perseverance Composition Engine ↗, which implements Artificial Organisations, copying how human institutions have handled untrustworthy members for thousands of years, and address big problems in AI.

…medical research, biobanks, epidemiology or data ethics: Who owns health data? My work in epidemiology covers One Health and rule-based malaria modelling. Medical Snapshot proposes a system that is structurally forbidden to tell you your own results, compared against 25 systems used in the last 90 years. The Active Heat Exchanger is a cheap, lifesaving device that can be retrofitted into homes to improve air quality and generate important data. Radiophobia explains a widespread medical problem I experienced myself. My Overcoming Linguistic Bias system covers how to include academic sources across scripts, languages and historical eras without losing data by forcing them into English conventions and thought patterns.

…IP, governance and regulation: Data mobility after Brexit is a continuing problem for UK organisations, while much larger EU–US privacy battles may be decided in 2026, and paracopyright is the new way to extort entire populations. Large companies often ignore regulation while claiming compliance; sometimes the regulation has surprising wrinkles, such as the cryptography facts buried in GDPR Article 28. Not Before Time answers “what did they know, and when did they know it?” with time-lock cryptography, giving everyone control over when information becomes readable.

…advisory, expert witness or collaboration: I work with founders, boards and courts on software IP, privacy regulation and open-source strategy. Six years of technology due diligence for a Nordic venture fund, and expert witness work before the Court of Session.

…contributions and corrections: errors, missing references and additions are welcome; the site challenge has the details.

More: AI and agentic systems · health and research · open source · law and privacy

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