Cybersecurity Law: An Emerging Field

With the news full of hackers invading corporate networks and massive breaches of consumer financial and other information, it is no surprise that cybersecurity law is coming into its own as a legal field at the juncture of law and technology. If you want to know more about the roles lawyers play in helping corporations secure data and deal with breaches and other cybersecurity issues, and more about what kind of knowledge lawyers need to do this work, start with "The Emergence of Cybersecurity Law," a new paper published by the Maurer School of Law at Indiana University Bloomington.  More reports, cybersecurity-related news, and current developments in this field are available from the American Bar Association's Cybersecurity Legal Task Force.  Finally, check out Crossroads Blog: Cyber Security Law & Policy, which supports two courses at Syracuse University College of Law and features law student, law faculty and expert authors.

Hat tip: beSpacific.com

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

How Americans View Privacy: New Report

This week the Pew Research Center published a fascinating report, "Public Perceptions of Privacy and Security in the Post-Snowden Era."  The Center's Internet Project commissioned a representative online panel of 607 adults to take four surveys over the course of a year.  The findings of this report are based on results from the first survey, conducted in January 2014, and reflect Americans' views of how secure they feel various channels of communication are for sharing private information. According to a recent BBC News article by Jane Wakefield based on comments from report author Mary Madden, a Pew Internet Project senior researcher, "the next survey, due next month, will look specifically at attitudes to how information is stored and secured and the following one will focus on behavioural changes in the post-Snowden world."

Read the report, and engage with the profiles and views of survey participants via this interactive created by the Internet Project.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

"Big Data" Report

On May 1, the White House released a major report on technology, innovation and privacy: "Big Data: Seizing Opportunities, Preserving Values." The report is based on a 90-day study examining "how big data will transform the way we live and work and alter the relationships between government, citizens, businesses, and consumers."  "Big Data" makes a number of specific recommendations to the President in an attempt to "present solutions that can enhance accountability, privacy, and the rights of citizens" while at the same time focusing on "how the public and private sectors can maximize the benefits of big data while minimizing its risks." Presented and endorsed by a working group of cabinet members and high level officials headed by John Podesta, the President's Counsel, the recommendations include advancing the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights and amending the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (18 U.S.C. Sec. 2510-22) to ensure protection for modern digital content.

The White House web site provides both a brief summary of findings and a fact sheet for the "Big Data" report. The assessment of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which advocates for electronic privacy rights, is here.




Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Cybersecurity Resources

With the FBI investigation of the Boston bombing suspects' social media presence and the passage of an amended version of H.R. 624, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) by the U.S. House of Representatives in the news this week, cybersecurity promises to be an increasingly important topic for legal research. Many of the key legal issues related to cybersecurity--from corporate liability and freedom of information to consumer privacy and civil liberties--are summarized in a new Congressional Research Service (CRS) report also published this week. Cybersecurity: Selected Legal Issues provides a brief (28-page) up-to-date nonpartisan overview of the subject, and is an excellent starting point for background and primary source citations.  Complementing this publication is another newly issued CRS report: Cybersecurity: Authoritative Reports and Resources.  This is a goldmine of information, listing legislative documents, executive orders, topical reports, and news and association websites with current, authoritative information on cybersecurity and public policy.  If you have an interest in this subject, don't overlook these newly published resources.   

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat