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.
Government Hacking
Focus Area:
Encryption helps human rights workers, activists, journalists, financial institutions, innovative businesses, and governments protect the confidentiality, integrity, and economic value of their activities. However, strong encryption may mean that governments cannot make sense of data they would otherwise be able to lawfully access in a criminal or intelligence investigation. Today, law enforcement agencies argue that if people are going to use strong crypto, then law enforcement investigators will need work-arounds in order to investigate crime and gather evidence of wrongdoing.
One such work-around is government hacking. The U.S. government is conducting remote access to and searches of computers (hacking) in order to investigate crime and gather evidence of wrongdoing. Law enforcement is pushing for enhanced powers to be able conduct remote access and searches on a larger scale and a more regular basis. In collaboration with Mozilla, Stanford Center for Internet and Society have convened experts from law enforcement, criminal defense, privacy and surveillance law, and computer science for a series of conversations in which participants have explored and debated the complex issues associated with government hacking. Based on these conversations, our research on this topic is ongoing.
-
Jennifer Granick
Non-Residential FellowJennifer Granick fights for civil liberties in an age of massive surveillance and powerful digital technology. As the new surveillance and cybersecurity counsel with the ACLU's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, she litigates, speaks, and writes about privacy, security, technology, and constitutional rights. -
Marshall Erwin
Non-Residential FellowMarshall Erwin is currently the Chief Security Officer at Mozilla, where he focuses on data security, privacy, and surveillance. He is an expert in cybersecurity and intelligence policy. Read more about Marshall Erwin
-
Riana Pfefferkorn
Non-Residential FellowRiana Pfefferkorn is a Research Scholar at the Stanford Internet Observatory. Her work focuses on investigating and analyzing the U.S. and other governments' policies 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. Read more about Riana Pfefferkorn