Forced Decryption and the Rational Criminal

The U.K. is moving to implement a law that requires people with access to sensitive information that’s encrypted to decrypt it, or to turn the relevant encryption key over to the authorities. This has provoked considerable controversy with civil liberties advocates. The whole issue reminds me of the U.S. debate over the Clipper Chip – [...]

HIPAA Lightly Enforced

The Washington Post reported this morning that the provisions of the HIPAA that safeguard privacy of medical records have been enforced very lightly by the Department of Health and Human Services. From the story: In the three years since Americans gained federal protection for their private medical information, the Bush administration has received thousands of [...]

Slate on Internet Dating

Dahlia Lithwick has a fun piece in Slate about scattered initiatives to regulate online dating services. It includes a startling (to me) finding from the Pew Internet & American Life Project that “17 percent of online personals users said their efforts resulted in a long-term relationship or marriage.” Lithwick’s amusing conclusion: The reason we aren’t [...]

Some Objections to DOJ’s Data Retention Proposal

There has been quite a flurry of conversation here at the Berkman Center, both face-to-face and online, about the recent suggestion by the Justice Department that it might seek either mandatory or voluntary data retention by ISPs and perhaps other businesses operating on the internet. I think USA Today first reported the story in the [...]