Full Bio
Mark Ghuneim is an American internet entrepreneur, activist, and art curator with a multifaceted career spanning the music industry, digital marketing, privacy advocacy, and art curation. He is known for his innovative contributions to each of these fields and his passion for exploring the intersection of technology, privacy, and art.
Career: Ghuneim’s early career began in the music industry, where he served as a VJ and DJ at Private Eyes, a video nightclub in New York City. He also gained experience in music video production while working with Thirsty Ear/Beggar’s Banquet and record labels like 4AD. He later joined Columbia Records, holding various positions including VP of Video Promotion, VP of Online and Emerging Technologies, and Senior VP of Online and Emerging Technologies. As the first digital executive at Sony Music Entertainment, Ghuneim implemented online marketing campaigns and spearheaded innovations in social networking and community management.
In 2004, Ghuneim founded Wiredset, a digital services company that provided marketing and consulting services to clients in the entertainment industry. Wiredset later developed Trendrr, a real-time tracking and analysis platform for social media engagement and trends. Trendrr became a success and was acquired by Twitter in 2013. Ghuneim then became the General Manager of Twitter’s Curator product, a tool for curating tweets and other content for use in media broadcasts and publications. He also worked on business development and media partnerships for Twitter.
Advocacy and Art: Ghuneim founded Hacked.net in 1997, a platform focused on information security, and he testified before Congress on related issues. He actively worked with the ACLU and the New York Civil Liberties Union to advocate for privacy rights and oppose surveillance in public spaces.
As an art curator, Ghuneim co-curated the exhibition “Public, Private, Secret” at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York from 2016 to 2017. The exhibition explored the roles of photography and video in shaping identity and the social conventions that define public and private selves. He also authored, co-curated, and contributed to the “Surveillance Index” exhibition and book series, which presented a collection of books related to surveillance photography, with the first edition launched in 2016 at the ICP Museum
Book Launch: Surveillance Index Edition One by Mark Ghuneim
Ghuneim holds a US patent (8,271,429) for a “System and method for collecting and processing data.” He has authored papers, including “Terms of Engagement: Measuring the Active Consumer” (2008), and acted at a co-producer on the documentary “Pixies: Gouge.”
Mark Ghuneim continues to work as an angel investor, mentor, consultant, and creator, and he remains actively involved in privacy activism and art curation. His career is driven by the philosophy of “evolve or perish,” reflecting his commitment to continuous innovation and positive change.
Mark Ghuneim | Evolve or Perish.