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.
CIS in the news.
"Bryant Walker Smith, a researcher at Stanford University’s Center for Automotive Research and the Center for the Internet and Society at Stanford’s law school, says consumers’ expectations of autonomy likely will increase because of publicity over the blind driver of a Google car, or a robotic-taxi demonstration in Berlin." Read more » about Experts See Autonomous-Car Revolution as Evolution
"Ryan Calo, the organizer of the annual Stanford conference on Robots and the Law has written a new paper called Robotics and the New Cyberlaw , examining the new legal challenges posed by the presence of robots in our public spaces, homes and workplaces, as distinct from the legal challenges of computers and the Internet." Read more » about Robots and the law: what's after cyberlaw?
"Ryan Calo, a professor at the University of Washington law school who specializes in privacy issues, says police could run into trouble searching on the Internet.
"If officers were [scanning social media] on the basis of gender and then making decisions on that basis, you could run into constitutional scrutiny," Calo says. "And you'd be almost sure to if your keyword involved the word 'Muslim.' "' Read more » about As Police Monitor Social Media, Legal Lines Become Blurred
"(Narayanan, elsewhere, in talking about his doctoral research on problems with data anonymization, said his thesis, "in a sentence, is that the level of anonymity that consumers expect—and companies claim to provide—in published or outsourced databases is fundamentally unrealizable.")" Read more » about Scientists explore safeguards for genomic data privacy
"Daniel Nazer, a lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told me yesterday that Nasser's project is clearly within the bounds fair use. "It is entirely non-commercial and it seems very unlikely someone would follow that account as a substitute for watching the actual movie (both important factors for a fair use analysis)," he said." Read more » about How the 'Top Gun' Twitter Crashed and Burned
"Ryan Calo, a law professor at the University of Washington, calls this the “mass production of bias,” in which companies use personal data to exploit people’s vulnerability. For example, companies can chip away at consumers’ willpower until they finally give in to making a purchase. Or a computer algorithm can set prices for each individual at exactly the price that is the most he or she is willing to pay for a given product or service." Read more » about A cell phone wrapped in tin foil is just one of the ways Julia Angwin went off the grid in her new book
"On Thursday morning, Chris Soghoian, principal technologist at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and Marcia Hofmann, who runs a law practice specializing in technology issues, such as electronic privacy and online security, delivered a joint presentation.
The talk, titled “The Laws and Ethics of Trustworthy Technology,” delved into the government's increasingly audacious methods for accessing firms' customer data." Read more » about TrustyCon: Privacy advocates challenge government's sweeping data access
"Calo, a privacy expert who has tested Glass, said that that kind of reaction to the head-mounted computer "has a large measure of irrationality."
"Glass in its present state is not capable of the kind of privacy invasion worth beating someone up over," Calo said." Read more » about Clash over Google Glass shows hurdles facing wearable tech
We turn to the topic of cyber security – or insecurity – in a discussion on the data breaches at Target and the University of Maryland. Our panelists include: Dr. Lisa Yeo, Assistant Professor of Information Systems and Operations Management at Loyola University Maryland’s Sellinger School of Business; and Dr. Rick Forno, Director of the University of Maryland Baltimore County’s Graduate Cybersecurity Program, Assistant Director of UMBC’s Center for Cybersecurity, and Junior Affiliate Scholar at the Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society (CIS). Read more » about Cyber Security & Data Breaches: What It Indicates About The Future
""Once a technology is adopted by the masses, it becomes much harder to regulate," Hartzog explained. As an example, he cited online tracking software like site cookies, which remains largely ungoverned. By the time groups that wanted a sharper definition of privacy got organized, the technology had already spawned thriving industries with powerful corporate support." Read more » about A Boy and His Drone
"Catherine Crump, an ACLU lawyer, said Wednesday she was pleased to hear that the department has canceled the contract proposal but still worried about that it might be brought back to life at some point." Read more » about Government drops plan to collect license plate tracking info.
"From serving as a consultant to law enforcement to collaborating with Firefox on a cookie-blocking feature, Jonathan Mayer J.D. ’12 Ph.D. ’16 has made a name for himself in recent years with regards to technology policy and online privacy issues." Read more » about Graduate student soars to tech policy stardom
"According to Daniel Nazer, a lawyer at San Francisco's Electronic Frontier Foundation, details of Cisco's settlement aren't available, so it isn't possible to predict whether Innovatio's tactics will continue, as places using routers from other companies than Cisco aren't likely to be covered by the settlement." Read more » about Cisco Systems spent almost $16 million fighting patent claim
"“There’s a real tension between fostering innovation ... and on the other hand protecting public safety,” said Bryant Walker Smith, who teaches and studies the legal aspects of automation at Stanford University. “Thirty thousand people die on U.S. roads every year, largely through human error, but you can imagine the consequences of an errant robot, both in terms of lives and the technologies involved.”" Read more » about Some lawmakers see sci-fi future in self-driving cars
"In response to the DIY science show we posted yesterday, Ryan Calo, an Assistant Professor at the School of Law and Faculty Director of the Tech Policy Lab at the University of Washington, reached out and said he thought the movie Her was being misconstrued." Read more » about A Robotics Expert Discusses Love in the Digital Age
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https://www.politicopro.com/go/?id=30547 Read more » about Technology outpacing D.C.’s Do Not Track debate
"Bryant Walker Smith, a fellow at the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford said with its ability to share data 10 times per second, including speed and location, V2V could have prevented the crash.
"If her car had the technology and the other car had this technology -- two big ifs -- she would've been told there's a car coming and doesn't appear to be slowing down," Smith said. "And you and your car could've been alerted to stop."" Read more » about Department of Transportation Unveils Crash-Prevention Technology
"“We still believe more transparency is needed so everyone can better understand how surveillance laws work and decide whether or not they serve the public interest,” said Google’s legal director for law enforcement and information security, Richard Salgado, in a post on the company’s official blog." Read more » about Microsoft, Facebook, Google and Yahoo release US surveillance requests
"“Until Paul Levy came on the scene, the trend was almost uniformly against defendants,” says Sonia Katyal, a Fordham University law professor who specializes in trademark law and the internet. “It was mainly because Paul stepped in that we were able to change the tide.”" Read more » about Paul Levy, the Web Bully’s Worst Enemy
"To help perform such complex calculations and weighty value choices, we support exploring Ryan Calo’s proposal for engaging ethical review boards to vet and clear Big Data projects. Such boards, which Calo calls “Consumer Subject Review Boards,” although they need not be restricted to the consumer context, will draw on the experience gained by institutional review boards (IRB) that currently safeguard research involving human subjects." Read more » about How To Solve the President’s Big Data Challenge