Joshua Browder | |
---|---|
Born | London, United Kingdom |
Nationality | British, US |
Education | Stanford University, University College School |
Employer | DoNotPay |
Title | Founder |
Parent(s) |
Bill Browder (father) Melanie Browder (mother) |
Relatives |
Earl Browder (great-grandfather) Felix Browder (grandfather) William Browder (great-uncle) |
Awards | Forbes 30 Under 30 |
Joshua Browder is a British entrepreneur and public figure. He is the founder of DoNotPay, the first website that allows motorists to appeal their parking tickets automatically.
Browder grew up in Hendon, London. At the age of 18, he began to receive a large number of parking tickets. Having formed the perception that these tickets were disproportionately targeting the elderly and disabled, and noticing the "formulaic nature" of the process by which they could be appealed, Browder created DoNotPay. Since its launch, the site has attracted over 175,000 successful users and saved UK and New York motorists an estimated $5 million.
According to Forbes, Browder programmed the entirety of the website between the hours of 12am and 3am. He taught himself to code at age 12.
On 12 January 2015 it was announced that Browder created the UK's first 'robot lawyer'. He ultimately hopes to replace "25,000 exploitative lawyers" with robots which can respond to questions with human emotions powered by artificial intelligence.
Outside of his business, Browder is known to be actively involved in the intersection between technology and human rights. At the age of 16, he programmed an iPhone application for Freedom House, the oldest human rights organization in the United States. He worked with an Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, David J. Kramer, to bypass Chinese censorship and make the Freedom of the World Report available in 155 countries. The app has been downloaded 17,000 times and is regularly used by members of Congress and the media.
Browder has described mobile apps as the "new technology" for fighting for human rights. As an International Bridges to Justice Youth Fellow, he created an app to educate lawyers in Burundi, Cameroon and Ghana how to effectively defend economically disadvantaged clients.
He is also a contributor to Washington D.C political newspaper The Hill, where he writes about civil rights and the death penalty.