About The Human Layer
What is the internet doing to people — and what are people doing with the internet?
An independent, US-focused magazine about people and the internet — how software shapes behavior, opportunity, exclusion, power, work, identity, and everyday life.
What we publish
Essays and features about the everyday internet; investigations built on data we gather ourselves; experiments where we try something so you don't have to; and reporting on the law and power shaping digital life. 83pieces so far — all of them are here.
Accessibility
This magazine is about people who get left out of the internet, so leaving people out of our own site would be a poor look. Every page is keyboard navigable, works with a screen reader, respects reduced-motion and high-contrast preferences, and is tested at 200% zoom. If something here doesn't work for you, that's a bug — please tell us.
Corrections
We correct errors openly and note substantive changes at the foot of the story.
Who writes this
Every byline in the magazine, and what each of them covers.
Maya Ortiz
Features
22 pieces
Maya Ortiz writes features about the everyday internet and the people maintaining it.
Daniel Whitmore
Law & power
21 pieces
Daniel Whitmore covers law and power for The Human Layer. He last wrote about biometric privacy suits in Illinois.
Priya Raman
Investigations
20 pieces
Priya Raman reports on platform accountability, contracts, and the fine print of digital life.
The editors
Editorial
11 pieces
Written and signed by the editors of The Human Layer.
The Human Layer testing desk
Original data
9 pieces
Our standing team of testers runs the hands-on experiments behind the magazine's original data.
Contact
Three desks, three addresses. Write to whichever fits — or use the form below and it goes to the same place.
Story tips and pitches
Two or three sentences on the idea and why now. We answer pitches within a week.
Corrections
Point at the sentence. We fix errors openly and note substantive changes on the piece.
Accessibility problems
Tell us the page and what your setup is. A page of ours you cannot use is a bug, not a preference.