Speech & Surveillance
Government searches implicate speech. Throughout history, those who speak out have also often been those the government seeks to search. This line of research looks at interactions between the First and Fourth Amendments and how technology is poised to alter each.
- Court Upholds Legal Challenge Under California Statewide Stingray Law in Lawfare
- Four Obstacles to Local Surveillance Ordinances in Lawfare (with Lily Liu)
- Fourteen Places Have Passed Local Surveillance Laws. Here’s How They’re Doing in Lawfare
- Conscientious Objectors and Whistleblowers: Sentencing Should Recognize First Amendment Interests in Just Security
- Investigating Surveillance Around Standing Rock in Just Security (with Collin Anderson)
Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) Reform
Obtaining evidence for criminal investigations gets more difficult when that evidence is electronic data held by foreign companies in another country (Google, etc.). Updating the somewhat archaic “Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty” between countries emerged as a frontrunner way to alleviate this problem. An agreement between the UK and the US started this process, approved in 2019, following 2018 legislation (CLOUD Act). See also my White Paper explainer and a view from African experts on the limits of MLAT reform.
- In the U.S.-U.K. Deal, Both Sides Deserve Scrutiny in Just Security (with Scarlet Kim)
- The Weak Link in a Double Act: U.K. Law is Inadequate for Proposed Cross-Border Data Deal in Lawfare (with Scarlet Kim)
- MLAT Reform: Some Thoughts from Civil Society in Lawfare
Zero-Day Vulnerabilities
Zero-day vulnerabilities – software flaws unknown to the maker and public – present several cybersecurity and legal problems. The blog posts below address two of these issues: how and when U.S. government agencies that use zero-days for intelligence or law enforcement purposes disclose them to industry so they can be fixed to improve broader cybersecurity. Second, the posts address the debate about mechanisms for international control of trade or sale of these vulnerabilities, which revolve around the Wassenaar Arrangement.
- PATCH: Debating Codification of the VEP in Lawfare (with Trey Herr)
- A Response to “The Tech:” Continuing the Vulnerability Equities Debate in Just Security
- The Vulnerabilities Equities Process Should Consider More than Intelligence Community Needs in Just Security
- Proposed U.S. Export Controls: Implications for Zero-Day Vulnerabilities and Exploits in Lawfare
- Update: Changes to Export Control Arrangement Intended to Apply to Surveillance Technology, not Exploits, but Confusion and Ambiguity Remain in Just Security (with Jennifer Granick)
- Changes to Export Control Arrangement Apply to Zero-Day Vulnerabilities and More in Just Security (with Jennifer Granick)
African Internet Law
African countries have been developing Internet policies in a political context shaped by post-colonial forces and regional dynamics. I have been tracking these policy developments since 2014; see African Cyber Research for full information.
- Disinformation Colonialism and African Internet Policy in Council on Foreign Relations’ Net Politics
- African Union Bugged by China: Cyber Espionage as Evidence of Strategic Shifts in Council on Foreign Relations’ Net Politics
- South Africa Introduces Revised Cybercrime Legislation, Acknowledging Criticism in Council on Foreign Relations’ Net Politics
- Africans Want Cross-Border Data Access Reform, But They Might Get Left Out in Council on Foreign Relations’ Net Politics
- Cyber Diplomacy with Africa: Lessons From the African Cybersecurity Convention in Council on Foreign Relations’ Net Politics
- The African Internet Governance Forum: Continued Discomfort with Multistakeholderism in Council on Foreign Relations’ Net Politics
- The African Union Cybersecurity Convention: A Missed Human Rights Opportunity with Fadzai Madzingira in Council on Foreign Relations’ Net Politics
Mailyn Fidler 