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Stephanie Pell

Non-Residential Fellow

Stephanie K. Pell, the founder of SKP Strategies, LLC, provides legislative, policy and government relations consulting across the cluster of communications privacy issues found at the nexus of law enforcement, national security, commercial and consumer interests, including: electronic surveillance and wiretapping; location-based information and services; cloud computing; cybersecurity; information sharing; data breach and data retention. Read more » about Stephanie Pell

Michelle Richardson

Non-Residential Fellow

Michelle Richardson is a Legislative Counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union where she focuses on national security and government transparency. She monitors and analyzes legislation and executive branch policy concerning the Patriot Act, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, cybersecurity, state secrets and the Freedom of Information Act. Richardson also plays a key role in the design of lobbying, grassroots and messaging strategies for ACLU members and activists and for legislative coalitions. Read more » about Michelle Richardson

Chris Ridder

Non-Residential Fellow

Chris Ridder is a Non-Residential Fellow at the Center for Internet and Society (CIS). His research interests include the full range of issues that arise at the intersection of technology and the law, including the application of intellectual property law to software and the Internet, and the impact of technological change on privacy and civil liberties. Prior to joining CIS, Chris was an associate at Simpson Thacher and Barltett LLP, where he litigated intellectual property and complex commercial cases. Read more » about Chris Ridder

Omer Tene

Affiliate Scholar

Omer Tene is an Associate Professor at the College of Management School of Law, Rishon Le Zion, Israel, and a legal consultant admitted to practice in Israel and New York. He consults the Israeli government, data protection authority and private sector businesses, including Fortune 100 companies, on privacy, data protection and law and technology. Read more » about Omer Tene

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Transparency, but what are we seeing?

By Kate Westmoreland • April 1, 2013 at 6:35 pm

Cross-posted from http://katewestmoreland.wordpress.com/

Now that Microsoft has come to the party and is publishing a regular transparency report, there is a meaningful amount of publicly-available data about government requests for online records. Looking at the data from Google, Twitter, Dropbox and Microsoft side-by-side raises some interesting questions. Read more » about Transparency, but what are we seeing?

Obscurity: A Better Way to Think About Your Data Than 'Privacy'

By Woodrow Hartzog • January 22, 2013 at 1:04 pm

Cross-posted from The Atlantic

By Woodrow Hartzog and Evan Selinger Read more » about Obscurity: A Better Way to Think About Your Data Than 'Privacy'

Drone Crash

By Ryan Calo • March 5, 2012 at 12:58 pm

The Examiner is reporting that a prototype drone crashed into a Texas Montgomery Read more » about Drone Crash

Setting the Record Straight on Google’s Safari Tracking

By Jonathan Mayer • February 21, 2012 at 4:00 pm

Our recent research on Google’s circumvention of the Safari cookie blocking feature has led to some confusion, in part owing to the company’s statement in response (reproduced in its entiretybelow). This post is an attempt to elucidate the central issues. As with the original writeup, I aim for a neutral viewpoint in the interest of establishing a common factual understanding. Read more » about Setting the Record Straight on Google’s Safari Tracking

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The Life, Death, and Revival of Implied Confidentiality

Author(s):

Woodrow Hartzog

Publication Date:

August 7, 2012

Publication Type:

Academic Writing

The concept of implied confidentiality has deep legal roots, but it has been largely ignored by the law in online-related disputes. A closer look reveals that implied confidentiality has not been developed enough to be consistently applied in environments that often lack obvious physical or contextual cues of confidence, such as the Internet. This absence is significant because implied confidentiality could be one of the missing pieces that help users, courts, and lawmakers meaningfully address the vexing privacy problems inherent in the use of the social web. Read more » about The Life, Death, and Revival of Implied Confidentiality

Chain-Link Confidentiality

Author(s):

Woodrow Hartzog

Publication Date:

April 24, 2012

Publication Type:

Academic Writing

Disclosing personal information online often feels like losing control over one’s data forever; but this loss is not inevitable. This essay proposes a “chain-link confidentiality” approach to protecting online privacy. One of the most difficult challenges to guarding privacy in the digital age is the protection of information once it is exposed to other people. A chain-link confidentiality regime would contractually link the disclosure of personal information to obligations to protect that information as the information moves downstream. Read more » about Chain-Link Confidentiality

To Track or “Do Not Track”: Advancing Transparency and Individual Control in Online Behavioral Advertising

Author(s):

Omer Tene

Publication Date:

March 15, 2012

Publication Type:

Academic Writing

Authors: Omer Tene & Jules Polonetsky

From the Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

Voume 13, Issue 1, Winter 2012. Read more » about To Track or “Do Not Track”: Advancing Transparency and Individual Control in Online Behavioral Advertising

Third-Party Web Tracking: Policy and Technology

Author(s):

Jonathan Mayer

Publication Date:

March 13, 2012

Publication Type:

Academic Writing

John Mitchell and I have written a new paper that synthesizes research on policy and technology issues surrounding third-party web tracking. It will appear at the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy in May. Read more » about Third-Party Web Tracking: Policy and Technology

The Case for Online Obscurity

Author(s):

Woodrow Hartzog

Publication Date:

May 3, 2010

Publication Type:

Academic Writing

On the Internet, obscure information has a minimal risk of being discovered or understood by unintended recipients. Empirical research demonstrates that Internet users rely on obscurity perhaps more than anything else to protect their privacy. Yet, online obscurity has been largely ignored by courts and lawmakers. In this article, we argue that obscurity is a critical component of online privacy, but it has not been embraced by courts and lawmakers because it has never been adequately defined or conceptualized. Read more » about The Case for Online Obscurity

Amicus Brief - Bunnel v. MPAA

Author(s):

Lauren Gelman

Ryan Calo

Publication Date:

July 31, 2008

Publication Type:

Litigation Brief

Emails Detail Northern District's Use of Controversial Surveillan

Date published:

April 1, 2013

The Recorder

"Jennifer Granick, director of civil liberties at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society, said it would be troubling if prosecutors did not inform Seeborg that stingray technology would be used to locate Rigmaiden's computer." Read more » about Emails Detail Northern District's Use of Controversial Surveillan

London's Tube Is Getting 'Contactless' Payments. Could They Work in the U.S.?

Date published:

January 22, 2013

The Atlantic

In a conversation with Ryan Calo, a law professor at the University of Washington and privacy expert, he pointed out that if companies use information about how people ride public transportation against them, say to create a system of price discrimination so that coffee at Cosi is more expensive during the hours of the bleary-eyed commute, that would constitute a kind of harm to the consumer. Read more » about London's Tube Is Getting 'Contactless' Payments. Could They Work in the U.S.?

New film goes in search of Google's first privacy policy

Date published:

January 22, 2013

CNET

Ryan Calo, an assistant professor at the University of Washington School of Law, has called for companies to use simple icons denoting how user data is collected and shared, offering a visual shorthand to help users make sense of privacy policies. Hoback says that's a start -- but it's not enough.

"Really what needs to change is the general perception of how our data is used," he said. The first step is awareness."

New Facebook Tool, Te'o Scandal Fan Flames of Privacy Debate

Date published:

January 19, 2013

CNBC

"It's fair to question the common narrative that because [Graph] Search respects privacy settings, then there aren't privacy issues,"said Woodrow Hartzog, a law professor and affiliate scholar at the Center for Internet and Society. Read more » about New Facebook Tool, Te'o Scandal Fan Flames of Privacy Debate

With Facebook search, users may lose their sense of obscurity

Date published:

January 16, 2013

Los Angeles Times

"A lot of this stuff that was previously unlikely to be seen outside of a small group of people will now easily be found through search on Facebook," said Woodrow Hartzog, assistant law professor at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala.

Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris issues mobile apps privacy guidelines

Date published:

January 10, 2013

Los Angeles Times

"What California does often ends up becoming the law of the land," said Ryan Calo, assistant professor at the University of Washington School of Law. Read more » about Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris issues mobile apps privacy guidelines

Found: Secret location of Minneapolis police license plate readers

Date published:

December 18, 2012

Ars Technica

“This study is a good demonstration not only of how much information is collected, but also how much additional information can be extracted through data analysis,” Woodrow Hartzog, a law professor at the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, told Ars. Read more » about Found: Secret location of Minneapolis police license plate readers

When is Social Media Use a Crime?

Date published:

December 17, 2012

CNN

Newtown school shooting raises the question of whether someone can be prosecuted for posting false information online.
"What the prosecutors would have to show is that the post or the tweet or whatever it happens to be was done intentionally, was done on purpose, in order to interfere with the investigation, in order to create a public panic, and that's a relatively high bar to show," said CIS Affiliate Scholar Ryan Calo. Read more » about When is Social Media Use a Crime?

Facebook changes privacy controls again and takes a key one away

Date published:

December 12, 2012

Los Angeles Times

University of Washington law professor Ryan Calo said “preserving obscurity is the best way to protect privacy. This is an example of a company taking obscurity away.”

“It feels almost as though Facebook is trying to acclimate users -- even recalcitrant ones -- to a world of personal transparency,” Calo said.

FTC: Apps For Children Raise Privacy Concerns

Date published:

December 11, 2012

NPR: Morning Edition

The Federal Trade Commission has released a report taking to task the makers of mobile apps for children. It says apps are not transparent enough about the personal information they collect. It's the latest sign the Obama administration is concerned about children's privacy online.

CIS Affiliate Scholar Ryan Calo interviewed. Read more » about FTC: Apps For Children Raise Privacy Concerns

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Overview of Constitutional Privacy Principles and Existing State and Federal Privacy Laws (Past Event)

March 19, 2013

California State Capitol

Privacy Implications of the New Mobile App Ecosystem: (30 minutes) Read more » about Overview of Constitutional Privacy Principles and Existing State and Federal Privacy Laws

Big Data and Privacy: Making Ends Meet

September 10, 2013

Washington D.C.

Solutions to many pressing economic and societal challenges lie in better understanding data. New tools for analyzing disparate information sets, called Big Data, have revolutionized our ability to find signals amongst the noise. Big Data techniques hold promise for breakthroughs ranging from better health care, a cleaner environment, safer cities, and more effective marketing. Yet, privacy advocates are concerned that the same advances will upend the power relationships between government, business and individuals, and lead to prosecutorial abuse, racial or other profiling, discrimination, redlining, overcriminalization, and other restricted freedoms. Read more » about Big Data and Privacy: Making Ends Meet

Privacy Icons Legal Hackathon (Past Event)

November 16, 2012

Mozilla HQ

People rarely read privacy policies, but they're important. So let's make it easier for users to understand the most meaningful things a website does with their data. To accomplish this Disconnect is hosting a project to crowd-source -- think Wikipedia -- turning websites' privacy policies into a set of Creative Commons licensed privacy icons. The project also will publicly launch with an API so that any developer can build tools using the icons and crowd-sourced data. Here's a link to the current iteration of the project and a rudimentary Firefox add-on we created for the hackathon: Read more » about Privacy Icons Legal Hackathon

Weekend in Washington - What's The Big Idea? Technology & The Future of Privacy (Past Event)

November 10, 2012

Mayflower Hotel - DC

Technology Reporter Steven Henn leads a conversation on new innovations in face recognition technology and the legal & ethical challenges they raise with two leading privacy experts: University of Washington Law's Ryan Calo and Carnegie Mellon University's Alessandro Acquisti

Behavioral Advertising and Privacy Law Reboot - US and International Legal Trends and Best Practices for Internet, Cloud and E-Commerce Companies (Past Event)

October 10, 2012

Room 290 - Stanford Law School

Hosted by the Stanford Center for E-Commerce.

5:30 pm - 6:30 pm: Registration/Reception (Manning Faculty Lounge, second floor breezeway fo Stanford Law School) Read more » about Behavioral Advertising and Privacy Law Reboot - US and International Legal Trends and Best Practices for Internet, Cloud and E-Commerce Companies

Robots, Privacy & Society (Past Event)

May 23, 2012

Cal Poly

Privacy Identity Innovation - pii2012 (Past Event)

May 15, 2012

Seattle

The third edition of the Privacy Identity Innovation conference will be held in downtown Seattle this Spring. Taking place May 15-16 at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center, pii2012 Seattle will explore how to protect sensitive information while enabling new technologies and business models. Read more » about Privacy Identity Innovation - pii2012

IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy: Web Security (Past Event)

May 22, 2012

Westin St. Francis, San Francisco, CA

Sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society Technical Committee on Security and Privacy in cooperation with the International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR). Read more » about IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy: Web Security

How Drones Could Save Privacy Law (Past Event)

February 25, 2012

Stanford University

As part of Stanford University's Parents' Weekend, Ryan Calo (Director of Privacy and Robotics) will be giving a talk about how drones could save privacy law.

The Privacy Paradox: Privacy and its Conflicting Values (Past Event)

February 2, 2012

Stanford Law School

2012 Stanford Law Review Symposium co-sponsored by the Stanford Center for Internet and Society.

February 2, 2012 Read more » about The Privacy Paradox: Privacy and its Conflicting Values

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The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act: Swartz, Auernheimer, and beyond

March 28, 2013

In this video from Shmoocon 2013, Professor Orin Kerr and Marcia Hofmann from EFF discuss several recent prosecutions brought under the Act, including cases against Aaron Swartz and Andrew Auernheimer. Read more » about The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act: Swartz, Auernheimer, and beyond

The Future of Drones in America: Law Enforcement and Privacy Considerations

March 20, 2013

Hearing before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on “The Future of Drones in America: Law Enforcement and Privacy Considerations” Read more » about The Future of Drones in America: Law Enforcement and Privacy Considerations

Legal Issues in Mobile Security Research

December 12, 2012

CIS Non-Residential Fellow Marcia Hoffman participated in a Hacker Hotshot session where she discussed legal issues in mobile security research. Read more » about Legal Issues in Mobile Security Research

Open Book Club: A Conversation With Neal Stephenson

October 23, 2012

CIS Affiliate Scholar Ryan Calo interviews Neal Stephenson, author of Readme. Topics include privacy, virtual economics and security. Beth Cantrell, Greg Lastowka, and Tadayoshi Kohno also included in panel interview. This event was hosted by the University of Washington Law School. Read more » about Open Book Club: A Conversation With Neal Stephenson

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

Robots, Privacy & Society- Cal Poly

May 29, 2012

It is not hard to imagine why robots raise privacy concerns. Practically by definition, robots are equipped with the ability to sense, process, and record the world around them. Robots can go places humans cannot go, see things humans cannot see. Robots are, first and foremost, a human instrument. And after industrial manufacturing, the principal use to which we’ve put that instrument has been surveillance. This talk explores the various ways that robots implicate privacy and why, absent conscientious legal and design interventions, we may never realize the potential of this transformative technology. Read more » about Robots, Privacy & Society- Cal Poly

Privacy in the Age of Augmented Reality - Alessandro Acquisti - Audio

April 23, 2012

In his talk, Alessandro Acquisti links two streams of research he is conducting at Carnegie Mellon University: the "behavioral economics of privacy," and the study of privacy and disclosure behavior in online social networks. First, he will highlight how research in behavioral economics can help us make sense of apparent inconsistencies in privacy (and security) decision-making, and will present results from a variety of experiments in this area he conducted at Carnegie Mellon University. Read more » about Privacy in the Age of Augmented Reality - Alessandro Acquisti - Audio