
Jennifer Granick is the Director of Civil Liberties at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society. Jennifer returns to Stanford after stints as General Counsel of entertainment company Worldstar Hip Hop and as counsel with the internet boutique firm of Zwillgen PLLC. Before that, she was the Civil Liberties Director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Jennifer practices, speaks and writes about computer crime and security, electronic surveillance, consumer privacy, data protection, copyright, trademark and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. From 2001 to 2007, Jennifer was Executive Director of CIS and taught Cyberlaw, Computer Crime Law, Internet intermediary liability, and Internet law and policy. Before teaching at Stanford, Jennifer spent almost a decade practicing criminal defense law in California. She was selected by Information Security magazine in 2003 as one of 20 "Women of Vision" in the computer security field. She earned her law degree from University of California, Hastings College of the Law and her undergraduate degree from the New College of the University of South Florida.
High Res Photo of Jennifer Granick
Big Day in Hacker News Brings Prosecutions Grand and Petty
By Jennifer Granick • July 21, 2011 at 9:51 am
July 19th was a big day in hacker news. First, the Department of Justice announced the arrests of sixteen individuals thought to be associated with Anonymous and LulzSec, the loosely affiliated hacker groups that have been romping through corporate networks (and consumer data) this summer. Second, Reddit founder Aaron Swartz was arrested and charged with mass download of academic articles from JSTOR, a non-profit that contracts with universities to make such research materials available for free to affiliated students and scholars. Read more. Read more » about Big Day in Hacker News Brings Prosecutions Grand and Petty
Supreme Court Grants Cert in Fourth Amendment Cases, will review GPS Privacy, Legitimacy of Cut and Paste Language in Warrants
By Jennifer Granick • June 29, 2011 at 11:31 am
[For the original of this post, with links, go to the ZwillGen blog]: The U.S. Supreme Court promises some interesting Fourth Amendment activity next term, having granted certiorari review in two important cases. In the first, United States v. Jones, FBI agents planted a GPS device on a car and then used it to track the position of the automobile every ten seconds for a full month, all without securing a search warrant. I helped file an amicus brief on behalf of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU of the National Capital Area in Jones, urging the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to hold the search unconstitutional. It did, and that opinion is now on review. The Obama administration urged the high Court to reverse, arguing that individuals have no expectation of privacy in their movements on public streets under the 1973 case of U.S. v Knotts. In Knotts, officers used a beeper to help them figure out whether they were getting closer to or farther away from a can of drug precursor chemicals stored in a car. In the brief, we argued that Knotts didn't apply because the primitive beepers at use there were not analogous to the comprehensive surveillance information GPS technology can provide and the appellate court agreed:
{C} Read more » about Supreme Court Grants Cert in Fourth Amendment Cases, will review GPS Privacy, Legitimacy of Cut and Paste Language in Warrants
Court Holds ECPA allows Myspace to Disclose Private Messages Pursuant to Out Of State Warrant
By Jennifer Granick • June 21, 2011 at 1:27 pm
On June 1, Judge Kaplan of the Southern District of New York dismissed the complaint in Hubbard v. Myspace. Hubbard is the latest case to reject the claim that a social network violated the Stored Communications Act (“SCA”) by disclosing certain user information pursuant to law enforcement demands. Last month, this firm won a similar case, obtaining a dismissal in Sams v. Yahoo!. While the Sams case involved a subpoena for user records, the Hubbard case involved a Georgia search warrant for records and communications content. Read more » about Court Holds ECPA allows Myspace to Disclose Private Messages Pursuant to Out Of State Warrant
Proposed GPS Act Clarifies, Improves Location Privacy
By Jennifer Granick • June 21, 2011 at 1:24 pm
On June 15, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) announced the Geolocational Privacy and Surveillance Act, a statute which would require law enforcement to get a warrant before using technology to track individuals’ physical location. The statute would offer certainty in an uncertain legal regime. Currently, both the Ninth Circuit and the Seventh Circuit allow officers to attach a GPS device to your car and track you without cause, while the D.C. Circuit does not permit such warrantless surveillance. Read more » about Proposed GPS Act Clarifies, Improves Location Privacy
Rehberg v. Hodges: Constitutional Protection for Email Privacy
By Jennifer Granick • March 31, 2010 at 11:56 am
In Rehberg v. Hodges, EFF is asking the 11th Circuit to fix an earlier opinion wrongly suggesting that the contents of stored emails are not protected by the Fourth Amendment. Read more » about Rehberg v. Hodges: Constitutional Protection for Email Privacy
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Shloss v. Estate of Joyce
After the Estate of James Joyce refused to allow a scholar to quote Joyce in her book, we successfully defended her right under the fair use doctrine to use the quotes she needed to illustrate her scholarship. After we prevailed in the case, the Estate paid $240,000 of our client’s legal fees. Read more » about Shloss v. Estate of Joyce
Kahle v. Gonzales
In this case, two archives challenged statutes that extended copyright terms unconditionally—the Copyright Renewal Act and the Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA)—as unconstitutional under Copyright Clause and the First Amendment. Read more » about Kahle v. Gonzales
Towards learning from losing Aaron Swartz
Al Jazeera republished Jennifer Granick's two part blog postTowards learning from losing Aaron Swartz. Read more » about Towards learning from losing Aaron Swartz
Organized Labor Can Protect Workers by Supporting 'Aaron's Law'
Right now, a battle is underway to reform the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, a statute that can transform innocuous workplace behavior into a federal crime, simply because a computer is involved. The CFAA is a bludgeon that Big Business and the Department of Justice have willingly used against the American worker, and its time for that to stop. Read more » about Organized Labor Can Protect Workers by Supporting 'Aaron's Law'
Megaupload Indictment Leaves Everyone Guessing - Part 2
Daily/Journal Op/Ed
The first part of this article outlined the mechanics of the Megaupload website, and the novel questions of criminal inducement on which the government's indictment is premised. Here, we explore two more extensions of existing law on which the indictment is based, and the impact this prosecution is likely to have on Internet innovators and users alike. Read more » about Megaupload Indictment Leaves Everyone Guessing - Part 2
Megaupload.com Indictment Leaves Everyone Guessing - Part 1
Days after anti-piracy legislation stalled in Congress, the U.S. Department of Justice coordinated an unprecedented raid on the Hong Kong-based website Megaupload.com. New Zealand law enforcement agents swooped in by helicopter to arrest founder Kim Dotcom at his home outside of Auckland, and seized millions of dollars worth of art, vehicles and real estate. Six other Megaupload employees were also arrested. Meanwhile, the Justice Department seized Megaupload's domain names and the data of at least 50 million users worldwide. Read more » about Megaupload.com Indictment Leaves Everyone Guessing - Part 1
Shloss v. Estate of Joyce - Amended Complaint
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Taking a Flier on Big Data
"However, the level of precision that satisfies marketers is very different from the exactitude required by government agencies, says Jennifer Granick, director of civil liberties at Stanford University’s Center for Internet and Society. " Read more » about Taking a Flier on Big Data
Scripps Employees Called 'Hackers' For Exposing Massive Security Flaw
""There's this idea that you can access information, but if you access it fast then you're a criminal," Granick said. "If anything, these are very subjective calculations that shouldn't be the basis for whether someone goes to prison."" Read more » about Scripps Employees Called 'Hackers' For Exposing Massive Security Flaw
As cyberthreats mount, hacker’s conviction underscores criticism of government overreach
"Jennifer Granick, director of civil liberties at the Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society, said prosecutors have been guilty of “overreach” in their handling of computer cases such as those of Auernheimer and Swartz." Read more » about As cyberthreats mount, hacker’s conviction underscores criticism of government overreach
Constitution USA with Peter Sagal
CIS Director of Civil Liberties Jennifer Granick is interviewed in the PBS Show Constitution USA with Peter Sagal. Read more » about Constitution USA with Peter Sagal
Amid Calls for Reform, a Rare Trial of Hacking Law
""Because the language is vague and the way we've used computers has changed so much, there has been a great amount of litigation and dispute about what unauthorized access means," Granick said. "Some litigants have pushed the idea your access is unauthorized if you're violating an employment contract, or violating terms of a service agreement, or acting in a manner that is disloyal."" Read more » about Amid Calls for Reform, a Rare Trial of Hacking Law
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2013 Stanford University-Peking University Internet Law and Public Policy Conference (Past Event)
This Conference is cordially hosted by Stanford Law School and Peking University, and is sponsored by Tencent, China’s largest Internet company and one of the largest worldwide, and Microsoft, the largest software maker in the world. The main organizers include the China Guiding Cases Project, the Stanford Program in Law, Science, & Technology, the China Law and Policy Association, and the Stanford Law School Programs. Read more » about 2013 Stanford University-Peking University Internet Law and Public Policy Conference
3D Printing: Is the Law Ready for the Future? (Past Event)
Third Annual Internet Law Works-in-Progress Event (Past Event)
Jennifer Granick will be presenting her paper Principles for Regulation of Government Surveillance in the Age of Big Data.
For more information visit: http://law.scu.edu/hightech/2013-internet-law-wip.cfm Read more » about Third Annual Internet Law Works-in-Progress Event
Innovation or Exploitation? (Past Event)
Have you ever borrowed a smartphone without asking? Modified a URL? Scraped a website? Called an undocumented API? Congratulations: you might have violated federal law! A 1986 statute, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), provides both civil and criminal remedies for mere "unauthorized" access to a computer. Read more » about Innovation or Exploitation?
Swimming in the Ocean of Big Data: National Security in an Age of Unlimited Information (Past Event)
The Journal of National Security Law & Policy and The Georgetown Center on National Security and the Law proudly present "Swimming in the Ocean of Big Data: National Security in an Age of Unlimited Information". Read more » about Swimming in the Ocean of Big Data: National Security in an Age of Unlimited Information
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3D Printing: Is the Law Ready for the Future?
May 16, 2013
Three dimensional printing turns bits into atoms. The technology is simply amazing. These machines draw on programming, art and engineering to enable people to design and build intricate, beautiful, functional jewelry, machine parts, toys and even shoes. In the commercial sector, 3D printing can revolutionize supply chains as well. As the public interest group Public Knowledge wrote once, "It will be awesome if they don't screw it up."
Read more » about 3D Printing: Is the Law Ready for the Future?
Constitution USA with Peter Sagal - Episode II - It’s A Free Country
May 14, 2013
Jennifer Granick appears at 46:44.
Ask Americans what the Constitution’s most important feature is, and most will say it’s the guarantees of liberty enshrined in the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments of the Constitution.
Americans are fiercely proud of their freedoms but they continue to argue about what those basic rights are and how they can be sustained in a changing world. Are our rights unchangeable, or should they evolve over time? What is the proper role for the courts in interpreting rights? Read more » about Constitution USA with Peter Sagal - Episode II - It’s A Free Country
Innovation or Exploitation (Video)
February 21, 2013
Have you ever borrowed a smartphone without asking? Modified a URL? Scraped a website? Called an undocumented API? Congratulations: you might have violated federal law! A 1986 statute, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), provides both civil and criminal remedies for mere "unauthorized" access to a computer. Read more » about Innovation or Exploitation (Video)
Innovation or Exploitation? (Audio)
February 21, 2013
Have you ever borrowed a smartphone without asking? Modified a URL? Scraped a website? Called an undocumented API? Congratulations: you might have violated federal law! A 1986 statute, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), provides both civil and criminal remedies for mere "unauthorized" access to a computer. Read more » about Innovation or Exploitation? (Audio)
CODE 2600
July 24, 2012
Synopsis: CODE 2600 documents the rise of the Information Technology Age as told through the events and people who helped build and manipulate it. The film explores the impact this new connectivity has on our ability to remain human while maintaining our personal privacy and security. As we struggle to comprehend the wide-spanning socio-technical fallout causd by data collection and social networks, oru modern culture is caught in an undercurrent of cyber-attacks, identity theft and privacy invasion. Read more » about CODE 2600