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.
Publications
The Dangers of Moving All of Democracy Online
GOVERNMENTS AROUND THE world are struggling to deal with the public health and economic challenges of coronavirus. While many have pointed to how authoritarian regimes exacerbated the pandemic, we’ve so far paid dangerously little attention to coronavirus’s challenge to democracy. Read more about The Dangers of Moving All of Democracy Online
Deal with ransomware the way police deal with hostage situations
When faced with a ransomware attack, a person or company or government agency finds its digital data encrypted by an unknown person, and then gets a demand for a ransom. Read more about Deal with ransomware the way police deal with hostage situations
Vulnerability reporting is dysfunctional
In January, we released a study showing the ease of SIM swaps at five U.S. prepaid carriers. These attacks—in which an adversary tricks telecoms into moving the victim’s phone number to a new SIM card under the attacker’s control—divert calls and SMS text messages away from the victim. This allows attackers to receive private information such as SMS-based authentication codes, which are often used in multi-factor login and password recovery procedures. Read more about Vulnerability reporting is dysfunctional
The battle against disinformation is global
Disinformation-spewing online bots and trolls from halfway around the world are continuing to shape local and national debates by spreading lies online on a massive scale. In 2019, Russia used Facebook to intervene in the internal politics of eight African nations. Read more about The battle against disinformation is global
Yes, States and Local Governments Can Close Private Businesses and Restrict Your Movement
Can the state tell your favorite local restaurant to close, or tell you that you must stay at home unless it’s absolutely necessary to leave, because of an emergency? The governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have closed down bars, movie theaters and dine-in restaurants. Six counties in the San Francisco Bay Area have imposed a shelter-in-place order that allows people to leave their homes only for essential activities. Read more about Yes, States and Local Governments Can Close Private Businesses and Restrict Your Movement
Will the Coronavirus End Globalization as We Know It?
The new coronavirus is shaping up to be an enormous stress test for globalization. As critical supply chains break down, and nations hoard medical supplies and rush to limit travel, the crisis is forcing a major reevaluation of the interconnected global economy. Not only has globalization allowed for the rapid spread of contagious disease but it has fostered deep interdependence between firms and nations that makes them more vulnerable to unexpected shocks. Now, firms and nations alike are discovering just how vulnerable they are. Read more about Will the Coronavirus End Globalization as We Know It?
Hearing on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act at 22: How Other Countries Are Handling Online Piracy - Statement of Daphne Keller
Professor Daphne Keller discussed intermediary liability laws, i.e. “the laws that define platforms responsibility for content posted by their users including the DMCA” and noted that international approaches to intermediary liability fall along a broad spectrum, with the DMCA falling somewhere in the middle. Read more about Hearing on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act at 22: How Other Countries Are Handling Online Piracy - Statement of Daphne Keller
Why Europe's GDPR magic will never work in the US
The internet has been with us for a quarter of a century, but the US has still not passed a law requiring its companies to abide by meaningful data-privacy protections. This matters because most of the western world’s big technology companies are American. In 2020, America’s privacy bill will finally be settled. Read more about Why Europe's GDPR magic will never work in the US
US could learn how to improve election protection from other nations
Hacking into voting machines remains far too easy. Read more about US could learn how to improve election protection from other nations