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.
"Sharing Ayyub’s story with the committee, University of Maryland law professor Danielle Citron noted that the journalist awoke to find her face had been superimposed on the body of a woman in porno in April 2018, less than 24 hours after an appearance on BBC and Al Jazeera in which she condemned Indian religious leaders who had advocated on behalf of defendants involved in an 8-year-old’s gang rape and murder.
"The law currently exempts online platforms such as Facebook for most content its users post, but Danielle Citron, a law professor at the University of Maryland who testified, said the immunity should be preserved only for those that employ "reasonable content moderation practices."
"There are some sites that literally traffic in abuse, that encourage illegality, but they should not enjoy immunity from liability," Citron said, adding that she has advised Facebook and Twitter Inc. as best practices have emerged in recent years."
"“There are a few phenomena that come together that make deepfakes particularly troubling when they’re provocative and destructive,” Danielle Citron, a law professor at the University of Maryland who has written about the dangers of deepfakes, told the House Intelligence Committee. “The first is that we know that as human beings, video and audio is so visceral, we tend to believe what our eyes and ears are telling us.”"
"The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has landed in appeals court to see through a case which hopes to expose the US government's anti-encryption tactics.
On Wednesday, the civil rights group asked the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to unseal documents relating to a ruling made by a judge to prevent the US Department of Justice (DoJ) from forcing Facebook to purposely break Facebook Messenger encryption protocols.
"Danielle Citron, Professor of Law at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, testified that there's no finite way to stop deepfakes from spreading, but said a combination of "law, markets and societal resiliences" are necessary to get resolution.
"But law has a modest role to play," Citron conceded. She explained that victims in civil claims can sue for defamation or emotional distress from the videos, but added that it's "incredibly expensive to sue and criminal law offers too few levers for us to push."
"“You’re confused into thinking these are there to inform users, as opposed to protect companies,” said Albert Gidari, the consulting director of privacy at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society.
According to Jen King, the director of consumer privacy at the Center for Internet and Society, this doesn’t mean we should throw out privacy policies entirely — we just need a fresh start.
""A deepfake could cause a riot; it could tip an election; it could crash an IPO. And if it goes viral, [social media companies] are responsible," says Danielle Citron, a UMD law professor who has written extensively about deepfakes."
"Danielle Citron, a law professor at the University of Maryland and author of “Hate Crimes in Cyberspace,” is scheduled to testify before the House Intel Committee’s deepfake panel to talk about potential ways — including legislation — to stop deepfakes that could affect elections, personal lives and businesses.
""I think there is a lot of pressure on the data companies from a lot of different directions," says Omer Tene, vice president and chief knowledge officer at the International Association of Privacy Professionals. "Apple will continue to be the most aggressive proponent of privacy as it provides them a competitive advantage."
Yet, whether technology companies that provide services for free can wean themselves off of data remains to be seen, the EFF's Hoffman-Andrews says.
"Elizabeth E. Joh, who teaches policing and technology at the University of California at Davis School of Law, said she thinks legislation is needed to establish limits to law enforcement’s use of DNA.
“There’s very little in the way of rules in terms of what’s permitted and what isn’t,” she said. “It’s still relatively new, and the kind of cases that have thus far been solved are the kinds of cases I think most people want to have solved. But that doesn’t answer the question of what the limits should be on what the government can do.”"
"Jennifer King, director of consumer privacy at Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society, called Ring’s practice of asking for user consent to pass imagery on to law enforcement and then using that footage for its own ads “shady.”
“I don’t know if it’s illegal, but that seems like a violation of expectations,” she said. “There’s a difference between public service and profiteering.”"
"“It’s becoming harder to escape the reach of police using technology that didn’t exist before,” said Riana Pfefferkorn, the associate director of surveillance and cybersecurity at the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School. “And now we are in the position of trying to walk that back and stem the tide.”"
"Meanwhile, with Facebook continuing to sell ads to some Washington state candidates while other Washington state candidates who can't buy Facebook ads cry foul, cyber law expert Ryan Calo says concerned parties should be looking at the Federal Trade Commission's prohibition against "deceptive acts or practices."
"“Apple was well known for usability before it was known for privacy,” says Riana Pfefferkorn, associate director of surveillance and cybersecurity at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society."
"“YouTube as a private company is well within its rights,” said Jennifer Granick, a speech and technology expert at the American Civil Liberties Union. But “YouTube will make mistakes, and over-censor.”"
"“What the Russian government aims to do is take online services out of the loop -- eliminating an important backstop for human rights and the rule of law. The Russian government's demand also poses a cybersecurity risk for all users of these online services, regardless of whether they're the target of surveillance,’’ Mayer told RFE/RL.""
"People would be allowed to use pseudonyms when posting online, but platforms could be forced to hand out the users’ private information to third parties, including private persons, seeking prosecution for defamation or other crimes.
“The chilling effect for freedom of speech is real,” said Thomas Lohninger."
"Eshoo and her copanelists, Federal Communications Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, Reddit CEO Steven Huffman, and Stanford law professor Barbara van Schewick, remained doggedly optimistic about the future of net neutrality in the United States."
"The NSA is allowed to collect records for individuals up to two times removed from targets, creating exponential growth in the total number of records. Without this “two hops” rule, the effectiveness of the program would be “greatly diminished,” according to Jonathan Mayer, a professor of computer science and public affairs at Princeton University."
"“What’s not so clear yet is whether G.D.P.R. has had an effect on privacy and on corporate data practices,” said Omer Tene, vice president and chief knowledge officer at the International Association of Privacy Professionals. “Has the underlying business model of the internet changed? Is consumer privacy better? I think those questions are very much still open.”"