PRIVACY + SECURITY BLOG

News, Developments, and Insights

Silicon Valley’s Hilarious COPPA Scene

Originally Posted on Substack In the terrific comedy TV series, Silicon Valley (2014-2019), there’s a classic scene for privacy law nerds. The show depicts the world of Silicon Valley and the culture of the tech industry. The show illustrates the frenetic pace of building a tech startup, the frequent pivots and existential moments, the constant […]

Technological Design Is Power

Originally Posted on Substack Technological design is power. To be meaningful, regulation must address design. The design of technology controls what people can and can’t do, how people behave, how people interact with others, the way people make decisions, how much personal data they disclose, and many other things. Policymakers have been reluctant to regulate […]

A Privacy Torts Lesson from Philip Roth

Originally Posted on Substack With its central theme of appropriating identity, Philip Roth’s novel Operation Shylock: A Confession (1993) involves a fictional account of himself meeting a man impersonating him. Roth decides to impersonate his impersonator. In one passage in the book, Roth provides a mini law lesson on the Warren and Brandeis privacy torts […]

How to Think About AI – Video

  Watch Daniel Solove’s discussion with Cory Doctorow about AI. Doctorow coined the term “enshittification” to describe how many tech services are deliberately degraded over time, providing less to the user and extracting more for companies. In his latest book, The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI, Doctorow argues that with tech and AI tools, we […]