The Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School is a leader in the study of the law and policy around the Internet and other emerging technologies.
Press
CIS in the news.
-
Albert Gidari of Stanford University's Center for Internet and Society said the judge probably didn't want to hold up a trial set for Nov 30 in London.
-
Who’s liable when a self-driving car collides with another vehicle?
-
Who’s liable when a self-driving car collides with another vehicle?
-
Deep-Dive Discussion about Cybersecurity with Riana Pfefferkorn
Riana Pfefferkorn is the Associate Director of Surveillance and Cybersecurity at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society. Riana’s work focuses on investigating and analyzing the U.S. government’s policy and practices for forcing decryption and/or influencing crypto-related design of online platforms and services, devices, and products, both via technical means and through the courts and legislatures. She also researches the benefits and disadvantages of strong encryption on free expression, political engagement, economic development, and other public interests. Read more about Deep-Dive Discussion about Cybersecurity with Riana Pfefferkorn
-
With the increased focus of ransomware attacks in health care, what other sector or type of business should be on high alert?
We pay a lot of attention to the potential for attacks on critical infrastructure in areas such as energy (power plants, electrical grid, etc.), but I'm wondering whether we'll see an uptick on attacks in the farming and food production/supply chain, which is just as crucial to the continued running of society but perhaps less sexy. Read more about With the increased focus of ransomware attacks in health care, what other sector or type of business should be on high alert?
-
Tesla 'full self-driving' comes under fire: 'This is actively misleading people'
Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor who studies autonomous vehicles, said it was bad enough that Tesla was using the term “Autopilot” to describe its system but elevating it to “full self-driving” is even worse.“That leaves the domain of the misleading and irresponsible to something that could be called fraudulent,” Walker Smith said. -
The Police Can Probably Break Into Your Phone
Phone-hacking tools “have served as a kind of a safety valve for the encryption debate,” said Riana Pfefferkorn, a Stanford University researcher who studies encryption policy.
Read more about The Police Can Probably Break Into Your Phone
-
Tesla ‘full self-driving’ vehicles can’t drive themselves
Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor who studies autonomous vehicles, said it was bad enough that Tesla was using the term “Autopilot” to describe its system but elevating it to “full self-driving” is even worse.“That leaves the domain of the misleading and irresponsible to something that could be called fraudulent,” Walker Smith said. -
Amazon imagines a world where you pay with your hand. Privacy experts aren’t so sure.
“There’s always something about the physical that catches our attention,” says Bryant Walker Smith, an associate law professor at the University of South Carolina specializing in law and technology. “The idea of an eye scan or a palm scan feels just so much more tangible than that all these companies have our phone numbers, and that these large platforms can track us by our behavior.” Read more about Amazon imagines a world where you pay with your hand. Privacy experts aren’t so sure.
-
Uber self-driving car operator charged in pedestrian death
Bryant Walker Smith, a professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law who studies autonomous vehicles, expressed concern about the signal it sends to prosecute only the driver.“It will come across to many that that’s where all the fault is, and the companies behind these don’t have responsibility,” Smith said. “Uber’s testing program created circumstances where this was foreseeable and almost inevitable. Someone spends their whole day seeing a vehicle drive well and starts assuming that it will drive well.” -
Human Driver of ‘Driverless’ Car Charged in 2018 Ped Death
“The fact that this driver has been charged with a crime does not vindicate Uber in any way,” said Bryant Walker Smith, a lawyer, engineer, and internationally recognized expert in autonomous vehicles. “For me, this crash comes down to a vicious cycle: The driver falsely assumed that Uber’s software would be vigilant, and the designers of that software falsely assumed that the driver would be vigilant. … I would argue that the companies that develop and deploy these vehicles are driving them — conceptually and morally, even if not legally.” Read more about Human Driver of ‘Driverless’ Car Charged in 2018 Ped Death
-
Where Are the Self-Driving Cars?
“Comparing disengagement rates between companies is worse than meaningless: It creates perverse incentives….If I wanted to look even better, I’d do a ton of easy freeway miles in California and do my real testing anywhere else” — Bryant Walker Smith, Associate Professor, USC School of Law and an expert in self-driving cars Read more about Where Are the Self-Driving Cars?
-
Getting the First Amendment Wrong
Think of the last time you changed your profile picture on Facebook or Instagram. When you uploaded that photo, did you assume you were agreeing to let anyone do anything they want with that photo, including putting you in a facial recognition database to track your location and every photo of you on the Web? Facial recognition company Clearview AI seems to think so. The company is bolstering its legal team to build a First Amendment argument to help justify its dubious and dangerous facial recognition business. All of our privacy hangs in the balance. Read more about Getting the First Amendment Wrong
-
DoD Needs New Policies, Ethics For Brain-Computer Links (Jacked-In Troops?)
"“It’s good to put attention on this emerging subject, since what’s been science fiction is now becoming reality,” Patrick Lin, a philosophy professor at California Polytechnic State University, and a member of the Center for a New American Security’s Task Force on AI and National Security, said in an email. Read more about DoD Needs New Policies, Ethics For Brain-Computer Links (Jacked-In Troops?)
-
Amazon and FedEx Push to Put Delivery Robots on Your Sidewalk
"Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor who studies emerging tech, says the bills don’t mean you’ll wake up tomorrow to an Amazon robot knocking on your door. Instead, he says, they reflect “the recognition by well-positioned companies with capable national and in some cases in-state lobbying operations that now is the right time to shape favorable legislation on this topic, before everyone starts talking about it.” Companies often want to create “legal certainty,” he says, to give themselves more flexibility as they develop and start using new tech." Read more about Amazon and FedEx Push to Put Delivery Robots on Your Sidewalk
-
A Dogfight Renews Concerns About AI's Lethal Potential
"“One wonders if the vision of a rapid, overwhelming, swarm-like robotics technology is really consistent with a human being in the loop,” says Ryan Calo, a professor at the University of Washington. Read more about A Dogfight Renews Concerns About AI's Lethal Potential
-
Are We Already Living in a Tech Dystopia?
"People should no more believe in dystopia than utopia. The fact is that technology has changed the world for so many for so long for the better—from reduction of disease to extending life to increased food and health—that to dismiss those gains is just know-nothingism. As with all technological advances, not everyone shares equally in the gains or benefits in the same way, and some may even experience disproportionately negative impacts, but that does not diminish the overall societal value of the advancements. Read more about Are We Already Living in a Tech Dystopia?
-
Challenge to scientists: does your ten-year-old code still run?
"“Ten years is a very, very, very, very long time in the software world,” says Victoria Stodden, who studies computational reproducibility at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In establishing that benchmark, she says, the challenge effectively encourages researchers to probe the limitations of code reproducibility over a period that “is roughly equivalent in the software world to infinity”." Read more about Challenge to scientists: does your ten-year-old code still run?
-
Jack Dorsey, Twitter and Square Cofounder, Donates $10 Million to BU Center for Antiracist Research
"Cyber civil rights expert Danielle Citron, a School of Law professor of law, says Twitter should be credited with “trying to address hate speech in a coherent and systematic way.” In the last year, the company expanded its rules around hate speech to include dehumanizing speech against religious groups, as well as any language that dehumanizes people on the basis of their age, disability, or disease. Read more about Jack Dorsey, Twitter and Square Cofounder, Donates $10 Million to BU Center for Antiracist Research
-
Q&A with Daphne Keller of the Program on Platform Regulation
Daphne Keller leads the newly launched Program on Platform Regulation a program designed to offer lawmakers, academics, and civil society groups ground-breaking analysis and research to support wise governance of Internet platforms. Read more about Q&A with Daphne Keller of the Program on Platform Regulation