Hellen joined Loughborough Law in September 2025 as a Lecturer in Law specialising in law, technology and social justice. She is a lawyer and socio-legal researcher with a background in social justice, human rights, and development.
Prior to joining Loughborough, Hellen was a Consultant and Researcher/Advisor on AI & Human Rights at Amnesty International where she advised on the regulation of data and AI, and led research in Denmark on the human rights impact of the Danish government’s use of fraud control algorithms to inform the distribution of social benefits.
Hellen was previously a PhD Researcher at Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology & Society at Tilburg University and part of the Global Data Justice Project Team - a team that studied the governance and regulation of data and new technologies through a social justice lens. She has a PhD from Tilburg University which examined the use of Fintech and biometric digital identity systems in Kenya, their impact on human wellbeing, and their governance and regulation.
Earlier on in her career, Hellen worked as a development Consultant in the Office of The Prime Minister of The Bahamas, taught law at the College of The Bahamas (now the University of The Bahamas) and practised law in The Bahamas.
She has an LLM from King’s College London, an MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and an LLB from the University of Northampton. She has been called to the Bar in England and Wales by the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn (non-practising barrister) and admitted as Counsel and Attorney of the Supreme Court of The Bahamas.
Hellen’s research examines the political economy of data, AI, and digital technologies; exploitation and structural injustice in transnational law-making processes and social justice approaches to regulating data, AI, and digital technologies.
Technology & Human Rights, Privacy and Data Protection, Decolonising Data and AI Governance and Regulation, Governance and Regulation of Financial Technologies
- Special Issue Editor: ‘Data, Law and Decolonisation,’ (2024) Technology and Regulation Journal. (Edited with Siddharth de Souza and Linnet Taylor) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.71265/rvwfyt51
- Mukiri-Smith, H, Maryam, H, Nolan, D, (2024) ‘How We Did It: Amnesty International’s Investigation of Algorithms in Denmark’s Welfare System’ Global Investigative Journalism Network
- Mukiri-Smith, H, Mann L and Azmeh, (2023) ‘A DC State of Mind. A Review of the World Development Report 2021, Data for Better Lives,’ Development and Change. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dech.12741
- Taylor, L, Mukiri-Smith, H, Petročnik, T, Savolainen, T, Martin, A, (2022), ‘(Re)making Data Markets: An Exploration of the Regulatory Challenges,’ Law, Innovation and Technology. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17579961.2022.2113671
- Mukiri-Smith, H. & Leenes, R, ‘Beyond the “Brussel’s Effect"? Kenya’s Data Protection Act (DPA) 2019 and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018,’ (2021), European Data Protection Law Review. - DOI https://doi.org/10.21552/edpl/2021/4/7
- Taylor, L., & Mukiri-Smith, H, (2021) ‘Human rights, Technology and Poverty.’ In M. F. Davis, M. Kjaerum, & A. Lyons (Eds.) Research Handbook on Human Rights and Poverty (pp. 535-549), (Research Handbooks in Human Rights)