Forbes reporter Farivar departing for startup

Cyrus Farivar, a senior reporter for Forbes magazine, is leaving to join Fire Aside, a startup that makes software for fire departments.

His last day will be March 21.

He previously was an investigative tech reporter at NBC News in San Francisco.

Farivar was also recently a senior tech policy reporter at Ars Technica. He was also previously the sci-tech editor and host of “Spectrum” at Deutsche Welle English, Germany’s international broadcaster, from 2010-2012.

He is the author of multiple books, including “Habeas Data” (2018) and “The Internet of Elsewhere” (2011). Praised by The New Yorker, among others, “Habeas Data” takes a look at legal cases that have had an outsized impact on surveillance law in America. His first book focuses on the history and effects of the Internet on different countries around the world.

In 2021, Farivar and four of his colleagues from NBC News won a James Madison Freedom of Information Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California Chapter for their reporting on Amazon and COVID.

He received his B.A. in political economy from the University of California, Berkeley and his M.S. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.