Privacy

Why New Calls to Subvert Commercial Encryption Are Unjustified
Law enforcement argues that “warrant-proof” encryption presents a unique and urgent threat by preventing them from accessing user data. But history shows that government efforts to subvert encryption would negatively impact individuals and businesses. As such, banning the technology is not the answer.
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For a menu of actionable ideas for policymakers related to privacy, see ITIF’s “Tech Policy To-Do List.”

Privacy
Check a box to narrow search for individual content items that cover numerous issues.
August 3, 2020
Podcast: Designing a Federal Privacy Standard, With Special Guest Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA)
There is a pressing need to preempt states from subjecting organizations to multiple, conflicting privacy rules. The debate now is not over whether to pass new legislation, but how to design such a law to protect consumers while encouraging continued innovation.
July 13, 2020
Why New Calls to Subvert Commercial Encryption Are Unjustified
Law enforcement argues that “warrant-proof” encryption presents a unique and urgent threat by preventing them from accessing user data. But history shows that government efforts to subvert encryption would negatively impact individuals and businesses. As such, banning the technology is not the answer.
July 10, 2020
The EARN IT Act Is a Threat to Privacy, Free Speech, and the Internet Economy
Online child exploitation is a serious problem that Congress should continue to investigate and law enforcement should continue to prosecute, but Congress should look for options that do not limit free speech and privacy or unnecessarily expose Internet companies to expensive lawsuits.
June 16, 2020
Banning Facial Recognition Will Not Advance Efforts at Police Reform
Regardless of where one stands on police reform, banning facial recognition for law enforcement makes little sense. To understand the reasons, consider some of the most popular ideas for responding to police violence.
June 8, 2020
How to Balance Internet Freedom and Security in the United States
Lawmakers have taken several positive steps in recent years to balance the benefits of data collection with the need to protect privacy and civil liberties. That should continue.
May 26, 2020
Strict Privacy Regulations Still Pose Threat to News Industry Revenue
The notion that The New York Times Company is improving privacy for its readers is pure illusion. The company is going to continue to deliver targeted ads to users. But instead of targeting ads to users based on profiles created by third-party ad networks, the company will be creating user profiles itself.
May 18, 2020
Podcast: The COVID Privacy Challenge, With Special Guest Amitai Etzioni
The COVID crisis has shifted the data privacy debate away from its prior focus on individual rights to one more focused on collective needs and responsibilities—for example, when it comes to sharing and analyzing medial data related to the pandemic, or tracking individuals’ contacts. Rob and Jackie discuss these issues with noted scholar and public intellectual Amitai Etzioni.
May 11, 2020
Turn Contact Tracing Apps On By Default. Americans Shouldn’t Need to Opt-In
As governments start easing lockdown restrictions, developing an effective contact tracing strategy has become a top priority to prevent a new surge of COVID-19 outbreaks.
April 8, 2020
ITIF Technology Explainer: What Is Facial Recognition?
Facial recognition technology uses algorithms that detect faces’ unique features, such as the distance between the eyes, to create a mathematical representation that determines their similarity.
April 1, 2020
How Much Privacy Should We Trade to Survive a Pandemic?
ITIF hosted a video webinar where panelists offered different perspectives about how policymakers should strike the right balance on privacy, both during and after a pandemic.

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