PRIVACY + SECURITY BLOG

News, Developments, and Insights

First Amendment Expansionism and California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code

The recent district court decision in NetChoice v. Bonta (N.D. Cal., Sept. 18, 2023) holding that the California Age-Appropriate Design Code (CAADC) likely violates the First Amendment is a ridiculously expansive interpretation of the First Amendment, one that would annihilate most regulation if applied elsewhere.  This decision is one of a new breed of opinions […]

My Speech at EUROPOL on the Nothing to Hide Argument

On September 19, 2023, I am speaking at the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (EUROPOL) event, Whispers of Contrast (Madrid, Spain). The topic of my talk will be “Nothing to Hide – Nothing to Fear?” and will be based on my book, Nothing to Hide: The False Tradeoff Between Privacy and Security.  You […]

Webinar – Facial Recognition and the Dubious Side of AI Blog

In case you missed my interview with New York Times reporter Kashmir Hill, you can watch the replay here.  We discussed her new book, Your Face Belongs to US: A Secretive Startup’s Quest to End Privacy as We Know It (Sept. 19, 2023).

Privacy Tech Insights US State Privacy Law

Although a U.S. federal privacy law remains elusive, U.S. states have been busily passing new laws. The laws have many similarities, but there are some notable differences. California and Colorado have issued new regulations, some provisions of which strengthen components of the laws.  I expect other states to join in the party soon. I will be […]

BCLT Privacy Lecture on Murky Consent in Privacy Law

I’ll be speaking at Berkeley Law’s 16th Annual BCLT Privacy Lecture on 9/22 about Murky Consent: An Approach to the Fictions of Consent in Privacy Law with commenters, Ari Ezra Waldman (Professor, UC Irvine School of Law), Rebecca Wexler (Professor,  UC Berkeley School of Law), and Ella Corren (JSD, UC Berkeley School of Law).

A New Open Letter to Law School Deans about Privacy Law Scholars and Curriculum

Before the pandemic, which seems like eons ago, I spearheaded a group of legal academics and practitioners in the field of privacy law who sent a letter to the deans of all U.S. law schools about privacy law education.  The pandemic occurred not too long after our letter, and deans had many other things to […]

The Funniest Hacker Stock Photos 5.0

Back by popular demand, it’s another installment of the funniest hacker stock photos.  Because I create security awareness training (and HIPAA security training too), I’m always in the hunt for hacker photos. Hacker techniques have evolved over the years, and so have hacker stock photos. Now, many of them are created by AI.  Whether created by humans or […]