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Urmila Janardan

Senior Policy Analyst (former, 2019-2025)

urmila@upturn.org
Areas of focus Policing Labor and Employment

Led by curiosity. Equal parts goofy and intense. Avid gardener and biker.

Urmila Janardan was a senior policy analyst at Upturn. They left the organization in 2025.

They co-authored Upturn’s reports on law enforcement use of mobile device forensic tools and the online hiring processes of large hourly employers. Urmila wrote their senior capstone on the potential for racial discrimination in online targeted advertising, which informed and strengthened their interest in dismantling technology-enabled systems that marginalize and oppress.

Urmila joined Upturn after graduating from the Minerva Schools with a B.S. in Statistics. They like making zines and climbing rocks in their free time.

Led by curiosity. Equal parts goofy and intense. Avid gardener and biker.

Latest Labor and Employment

Comments on EEOC's Draft Strategic Enforcement Plan

We submitted comments to the EEOC’s Draft Strategic Enforcement Plan for 2023-2027, pushing for more proactive support of civil rights in recruiting and hiring.

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Featured work by Urmila

All work by Urmila
Amicus brief in Commonwealth v. J.F.

We filed an amicus brief in Commonwealth v. J.F. urging the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to enforce the state’s automatic sealing provision.

Criminal Courts
Comments on Seattle Police Department's use of MDFTs

We submitted comments to Seattle City Council on their Surveillance Ordinance implementation process, explaining the technical capabilities of MDFTs and urging the Council to restrict the ways that Seattle PD can use them.

Policing
Essential Work

In this report, we investigate how large hourly employers are using technology to hire for low-wage hourly jobs. We scrutinize 15 online application processes, raise concerns with selection procedures like personality tests, and offer recommendations for employers and policymakers.

Labor and Employment
Mass Extraction

This report is the most comprehensive examination of U.S. law enforcement’s use of mobile device forensic tools. Our research shows that every American is at risk of having their phone forensically searched by law enforcement.

Policing