PRIVACY + SECURITY BLOG

News, Developments, and Insights

high-tech technology background with eyes on computer display

The Funniest Hacker Stock Photos 2.0

Security Training

Back by popular demand, it’s time for another round of the funniest hacker stock photos.  Because I create information security awareness training (and HIPAA security training too), I  frequently find myself in need of a good hacker photo. But good hacker photos are hard to find.  I often browse through countless images, each one more […]

Can the FBI Force Apple to Write Software to Weaken Its Software?

Privacy Awareness Training

A dramatic legal battle is taking place that will have dramatic implications for the future of technology, privacy, security, and the extent of government power.  The FBI obtained an order from a magistrate judge to force Apple to develop software to help the FBI break into an encrypted iPhone.

The 5 Things Every Privacy Lawyer Needs to Know about the FTC: An Interview with Chris Hoofnagle

Privacy and Security Training

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has become the leading federal agency to regulate privacy and data security. The scope of its power is vast – it covers the majority of commercial activity – and it has been enforcing these issues for decades. An FTC civil investigative demand (CID) will send shivers down the spine of […]

Notable Privacy and Security Books 2015

Notable Privacy Security Books 2015 - TeachPrivacy 01

For several years, I have been posting about notable books on privacy and security, and this post lists some of the notable books from 2015.  To see a more comprehensive list of nonfiction works about privacy and security, you might consult this resource page that Professor Paul Schwartz and I maintain: Nonfiction Privacy + Security […]

What Can We Learn From Bad Passwords?

By Daniel J. Solove The SplashData annual list of the 25 most widely used bad passwords recently was posted for passwords used in 2015.  The list is compiled annually by examining passwords leaked during a particular year.  Here is the list of passwords for 2015, and below it, I have some thoughts and reactions to […]

The Scope and Potential of FTC Data Protection

FTC Privacy and Security

I am pleased to announce the publication of my article, The Scope and Potential of FTC Data Protection., 83 George Washington Law Review 2230 (2015).  I wrote the article with Professor Woodrow Hartzog. The article addresses  the scope of FTC authority in the areas of privacy and data security (which together we refer to as […]

The Kafkaesque Sacrifice of Encryption Security in the Name of Security

Encryption Backdoors - Kafkaesque

By Daniel J. Solove Proponents for allowing government officials to have backdoors to encrypted communications need to read Franz Kafka.  Nearly a century ago, Kafka deftly captured the irony at the heart of their argument in his short story, “The Burrow.” After the Paris attacks, national security proponents in the US and abroad have been […]

Does Cybersecurity Law Work Well? An Interview with Ed McNicholas

Cyber Security

“The US is developing a law of cybersecurity that is incoherent and unduly complex,” says Ed McNicholas, one of the foremost experts on cybersecurity law.  McNicholas is a partner at Sidley Austin LLP and co-editor of the newly-published treatise, Cybersecurity: A Practical Guide to the Law of Cyber Risk (with co-editor Vivek K. Mohan).   The […]

K-12 Schools Must Teach Data Privacy and Security

By Daniel J. Solove It is essential that children learn about data privacy and security.  Their lives will be fully enveloped by technologies that involve data.  But far too little about these topics is currently taught in most schools.  Fortunately, there is a solution, one that I’m proud to have been involved in creating.  The […]