gabriel dance

about

i am the deputy investigations editor at the new york times. i work with a small team investigating all things technology and the companies that control our information.

previously i was a founding managing editor for the marshall project, a non-profit investigative journalism startup focusing on crime and punishment in the US.

before that i was the interactive editor for the guardian in new york city, where i worked on the Pulitzer Prize-winning team that broke the NSA story.

highlights

The Real-World Costs of the Digital Race for Bitcoin
Bitcoin mines cash in on electricity — by devouring it, selling it, even turning it off — and they cause immense pollution. In many cases, the public pays a price.
Where the Despairing Log On, and Learn Ways to Die
It has the trappings of popular social media, a young audience and explicit content on suicide that other sites don’t allow. It is linked to a long line of lives cut short.
Fighting the Good Fight Against Online Child Sexual Abuse
Several websites popular with sexual predators were thwarted last month after a determined campaign by groups dedicated to eliminating the content. It was a rare victory in an unending war.
Child Abusers Run Rampant as Tech Companies Look the Other Way
Though platforms bar child sexual abuse imagery on the web, criminals are exploiting gaps. Victims are caught in a living nightmare, confronting images again and again.
The Internet Is Overrun With Images of Child Sexual Abuse. What Went Wrong?
Online predators create and share the illegal material, which is increasingly cloaked by technology. Tech companies, the government and the authorities are no match.
As Facebook Raised a Privacy Wall, It Carved an Opening for Tech Giants
Internal documents show that the social network gave Microsoft, Amazon, Spotify and others far greater access to people’s data than it has disclosed.
4 Ways Fred Trump Made Donald Trump and His Siblings Rich
A Times investigation found that the president's father created scores of revenue streams for his children.
Facebook Gave Device Makers Deep Access to Data on Users and Friends
The company formed data-sharing partnerships with Apple, Samsung and dozens of other device makers, raising new concerns about its privacy protections.
‘You Are the Product’: Targeted by Cambridge Analytica on Facebook
Facebook plans to begin notifying users on Monday who were affected by Cambridge Analytica’s data collection. The Times has already spoken with some people whose data was taken.
The Follower Factory
Everyone wants to be popular online. Some even pay for it. Inside social media's black market.
How Donald Trump Avoided Paying Taxes Using Other People’s Money
Mr. Trump managed to save millions in personal taxes by borrowing – then losing – other people’s money.
The Next to Die
An ongoing project bringing attention and accountability to the death penalty in the United States by highlighting upcoming executions.
NSA Files: Decoded
The interactive feature explaining the story of the NSA leaks, and part of the Guardian's Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage.
IsBarackObamaThePresident.com
A single-serve site that showed just where the polls stood in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election, launched for the final two months before the election.
Rock-Paper-Scissors: You vs. the Computer
Test your strategy against the computer in this rock-paper-scissors game illustrating basic artificial intelligence.
Faces of the Dead
Each United States service member who has died in Iraq or Afghanistan and has been identified by the Defense Department.
A Year at War
More than thirty thousand American soldiers have taken part in the Afghanistan surge. Here are the stories of the men and women of the First Battalion, 87th Infantry of the 10th Mountain Division. Over their deployment, from March 2010 until March 2011, The New York Times followed their journey.

recognition

2020
Exploited: The Web's Darkest Corners
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award
Gerald Loeb Award, Investigative Reporting
2019
The New York Times Investigations into Big Tech
Pulitzer Prize Finalist, Investigative Reporting
George Polk Award, National Reporting
Gerald Loeb Award, Investigative Reporting
SABEW Award for Visual Innovation
2015
The Marshall Project
Society of News Design, World's Best
The Next to Die
Malofiej Awards, Special Award: Human Rights
Malofiej Awards, silver medal
Society of News Design, silver medal
2014
NSA Files: Decoded
Pulitzer Prize, public service
Emmy Award, News and Documentary
World Press Photo, interactive documentary, 2nd place
Society of News Design, gold medal
Malofiej, gold medal
Webby, Best practices
IsBarackObamaThePresident.com
Malofiej, bronze medal
2011
A Year at War
Alfred L. Dupont award
Emmy Award, News and Documentary
World Press Photo, multimedia, 3rd place
National Press Photographers, 1st place