Privacy
Individuals’ ability to control the use and disclosure of personal information changes dramatically as new technologies emerge and social norms evolve. These changes can empower institutions over individuals, or free individuals from coercive powers of the private or public sector. The Samuelson Clinic is focused on several problems arising from these changes, with the goal of promoting a public interest vision for privacy.
Critical to understanding these dynamics is the idea that privacy creates breathing room for important values in a democracy. Privacy is a necessary condition for ability to associate freely, to speak freely, and to engage in unencumbered intellectual exploration. While well-intentioned, video surveillance cameras, identification systems, and profiling systems can affect how we participate in democracy. They can empower the government to sort individuals according to terms that are discriminatory or political. The Clinic’s advocacy connects privacy and democratic values, with the goal of accommodating legitimate needs of law enforcement while preserving individuals’ rights.
The private sector has less coercive power than the government, but in recent years, information sharing collaborations between the private and public sectors point to the need to rethink whether commercial collection poses similar risks as when the government obtains personal information. Databases of consumer information are becoming richer, more predictive, and are used in more contexts, thus affecting individuals’ autonomy. The Clinic’s advocacy is focused on identifying these developments and empowering individuals to access, correct, and limit reuse of personal data.
The Clinic also focuses on the problem of security breaches and identity theft. Professor Mulligan, in collaboration with now California Senator Joseph Simitian, developed AB 700, known popular as SB 1386, which established a duty among businesses and California government agencies to give individuals notice of security breaches. The Clinic is exploring the effects of these laws in institutions. The Clinic is also focused on the problems posed by identity theft: how can we reduce the incidence and severity of this crime? How can costs of identity theft passed on to consumers be internalized by thieves and credit grantors who enable the crime?
| Title | Year | Type |
| Samuelson Clinic Submitted Comments to the California Public Utilities Commission on Privacy and the "Smart Grid" on behalf of the Center for Democracy & Technology | 2010 | Clinical Project, Comments |
| New Report Explores Californians' Understanding of Privacy Online | 2008 | Report |
| Samuelson Clinic Survey Finds Strong Support for Privacy of Location Data | 2008 | Report |
| Clinic Study Finds Many Companies Are Quietly Selling Personal Information to Third Parties | 2007 | Report |
| Clinic Attorney to Present on SSN Use at FTC Workshop | 2007 | Presentation |
| New Study Recommends Reforms for Security Breach Notification Laws | 2007 | Research Paper |
| Samuelson, Annenberg Report: Consumers Believe Privacy Policies Prohibit Common Advertising Practices | 2007 | Report |
| Clinic Comments on Private Sector Use of the Social Security Number | 2007 | Comments |
| Samuelson Clinic Filed Amicus Brief in Hepting v. AT&T on behalf of People for the American Way Foundation | 2007 | Brief |
| Samuelson Clinic, Annenberg School of Communication Presented Report to FTC | 2006 | Report |
| Samuelson Clinic Director Testified Before Department of Homeland Security on Expectations of Privacy in Public Spaces | 2006 | Testimony |
| Samuelson Clinic Students Assisted the Constitution Project in Preparing Guidelines for Video Surveillance | 2006 | Report |
| Samuelson Clinic Director, Fellow Participated at Computers, Freedom & Privacy Conference | 2006 | Presentation |
| Samuelson Clinic Released Paper on Legal, Technical, and Software Interface Design Issues Related to Spyware | 2005 | Research Paper, Presentation |
| Clinic Submits Comments to U.S. Department of State on Electronic Passports on behalf of Eight Leading Computer Scientists and Engineers | 2005 | Comments |
| Storing Our Lives Online: Expanded Email Storage Raises Complex Policy Issues | 2005 | Research paper |
| Stopping Spyware at the Gate: A User Study of Privacy, Notice and Spyware | 2005 | Research paper |
| Reasonable Expectations in Electronic Communications: A Critical Perspective on the Electronic Communications Privacy Act | 2004 | Research Paper |
| Radio Frequency Identification and Privacy with Information Goods | 2004 | Research Paper, Presentation |
| Enforcing Privacy Rights Symposium 2002 | 2003 | Research Paper |
| Ubiquitous Computing: RFID and Information Goods | 2003 | Research Project |
| Who Goes There? Authentication Through the Lens of Privacy | 2003 | Report |
| IDs - Not That Easy: Questions About Nationwide Identity Systems | 2002 | Report |
| Standards Project | 2001 | Research Paper |
| Location Information Privacy Project ["Geopriv"] | 2001 | Comments |
| Your Place or Mine?: Privacy Concerns and Solutions for Server and Client-side Storage of Personal Information | 2000 | Research Paper |
| Privacy in the Digital Age: Work in Progress | 1999 | Research Paper |
| Report Details Californians' Understanding of Privacy Offline | | Report |
