My cartoon about cookies. Privacy law has waged war against the cookie, resulting in endless cookie banners which make a mockery of privacy. Many are dark patterns. Few achieve any purpose other than to annoy users. For more on my views about how privacy consent is broken, see my article, Murky Consent: An Approach to the […]
I’m very excited to share with you the final published version of my article, Privacy in Authoritarian Times: Surveillance Capitalism and Government Surveillance, 67 Boston College Law Review 51 (2026). You can download the article for free on SSRN.
Originally posted on Substack It’s Data Privacy Day, though it’s now been expanded to data privacy week. Things are quite turbulent for privacy these days, so we need to celebrate less and focus on how to respond to the challenges ahead. Based on my anecdotal assessment, the CPO and DPO roles seem to have expanded […]
Originally posted on Substack We’ve now closed the books on 2025, so it’s time to review what happened in privacy law over the past year. At first glance, it seems like a quiet year (no new state consumer privacy laws) but quite a lot happened. Many smaller things, but they really add up. Here’s a […]
I just posted my new article draft with Professor Woodrow Hartzog (BU Law School) on SSRN (free download): Privacy as Contract? Here’s the abstract: Nearly everything people buy, every service they use, every account they create, and even every website they visit involves the collection, use, and transfer of personal data—a matter that is ostensibly […]
I just posted my new article draft on SSRN (free download): Enforcing Privacy Law: Why Private Litigation Is Essential. Here’s the abstract: Enforcement is an essential dimension for effective privacy and data protection laws—and it is probably the most important one. No matter how many privacy laws are enacted and how strong the laws are, […]
Nita Farahany (Duke Law) recently made a great point: “Your doctor has a fiduciary duty to you. ChatGPT doesn’t.” She discusses how people are increasingly turning to AI to serve as a kind of virtual doctor. OpenAI and Anthropic recently launched features where their chatbots can analyze a person’s medical records and provide personalized medical advice. She […]
Watch Daniel Solove and Kristen Mathews’ discussion on AI chatbots and the law.
The federal government has been asleep at the wheel while AI spirals out of control. Instead of trying to create thoughtful regulation, Congress has made silly attempts to ban states from regulating AI. And a recent executive order by President Trump has tried to threaten states from regulating AI.
Watch Daniel Solove and Ryan Calo’s discussion about Calo’s new book, Law and Technology: A Methodological Approach.