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.
"“The Assange case could send a chilling effect to legitimate sources,” agrees Richard Forno, the director of the Graduate Cybersecurity Program at the University of Maryland at Baltimore County. He worries about both the government’s prosecution of Assange, and Assange claiming a First Amendment defense as a journalist." Read more about WikiLeaks questions remain after London arrest of ‘houseguest from hell’
"Andrea Matwyshyn, a professor of law and computer science at Northeastern University, said that unless the owner or operator of a system specifically authorizes an attempt to guess a password, anyone who does so and enters that system could be charged under the CFAA. It wouldn't matter whether the password was obtained through insider knowledge or via a brute force attack, she said." Read more about Did Wikileaks Commit A Crime When It 'Guessed' PutinTrump.org's Password?
"Although it would be “unheard of” for the federal government to prosecute a company for using leaked classified information to improve its products, there “are some issues with the fact that the information is classified,” said Jennifer Granick, director of civil liberties at Stanford Law School’s Center for internet and Society.
Given uncertainty about the views of the Justice Department, “I can see why legal counsel at big companies might hesitate to reach out to Julian Assange to negotiate access to classified information,” she said." Read more about Assange: WikiLeaks will help tech firms defend against CIA hacking
"While WikiLeaks has often been criticized for releasing sensitive data without regard for the consequences, Mr. Assange is acting responsibly this time, said Jennifer Granick, the director of civil liberties at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society. WikiLeaks redacted the actual computer code for C.I.A. exploits from its initial release to avoid spreading such cyberweapons.
“He is trying to do the right thing,” Ms. Granick said." Read more about WikiLeaks Will Help Tech Companies Fix Security Flaws, Assange Says
"“I don’t think there’s been absolute privacy in the history of mankind,” said Albert Gidari, director of privacy at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society. “You walk out in public and it’s no longer private. You shout from one window to another and someone will hear you in conversation.”
“At the same time things are more intrusive, persistent, searchable, they never die. So our conception of what is or isn’t risk from a privacy perspective does change and evolve over time.”" Read more about With the latest WikiLeaks revelations about the CIA – is privacy really dead?
"Tuesday’s document dump mirrors the one WikiLeaks carried out when it exposed cyber toolkits used by the National Security Agency, and frankly, is not that surprising of revelation at all, offers Richard Forno, assistant director at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Center for Cybersecurity and director of the Cybersecurity Graduate Program. Read more about WikiLeaks Publishes Files It Says Are Biggest Leak of Secret CIA Documents
"There is an ongoing debate over the role of WikiLeaks, which claims to refrain from taking political positions on the information it gathers, noted Albert Gidari, director of privacy at The Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School.
One argument is that any culpability for harm resulting from the release of private information lies with the governments and private organizations that collect the data in the first place. Read more about Innocents Exposed as WikiLeaks Gushes Information
"“Wikileaks does not appear to operate within any particular principles with regard to information dumps. The ad hoc nature of their leaks means that they are often acting irresponsibly and amorally, within an ethic that simply declares that secrets are, by definition, suspicious. Read more about WikiLeaks postings of Turkish emails included active links to malware
