INTERNET LAW BLOG

How Can The American Legal System Improve Its Approach To Policing And Regulating Digital Technology Without Unduly Stifling Innovation And Civil Liberties?  

We now have more information available at our fingertips than during all of collective history. This digital technology encompasses a vast amount of information as well as processing and accessing it. But how, if possible, can we even regulate digital technology? After all, the internet is difficult to police; it’s a public good, an exchange of information, not a physical location that can be patrolled. And even if it were, would we want it to be policed? Or does this violate our free speech and, most importantly, our right to privacy? Despite these concerns, there are some things that can be done to improve internet safety without unduly affecting civil liberties, including establishing international standards, requiring the stringent self-regulation and transparency of intermediaries (such as search engines and internet service providers), setting up a council within the US to address complaints, and lastly, educating the consumers who use this technology.

First of all, it is worth noting that there are many individuals who feel the internet should be self-governing. David Johnson, for example, has been a strong proponent of this, stating that “governing the Internet well fundamentally entails governing ourselves, making sure that more of our time, attention and effort … make society more productive, congruent, ethical, and, yes, interesting, complex and empowering for everyone… It is no light duty to be a good netizen.”[1] While his idea of a benevolent internet citizen, or “netizen,” is optimistic and hopeful, it doesn’t reflect the current reality. There are many violations being committed that require some type of legal intervention to properly resolve them.

And what are these violations? The most common are those committed by criminals, including identity theft, phishing, malware, and fraud. Other common violations are committed at the commercial level and include collecting consumer information to sell or use in marketing without compensating, or sometimes even advising, the consumer. More recently we have become aware of governmental violations of “accidental disclosure,”[2] such as when a government employee’s laptop is stolen as well as the citizens’ information contained within it. This has occurred with other organizations as well, such as major retailers, credit card companies, and health insurance companies. While these infractions don’t occur with the frequency one would expect given the amount of available data, they happen enough to be concerning, and can have serious detrimental financial, psychological, and emotional effects on the individuals involved.

Clearly, then, some type of legal intervention is necessary. However, a large part of digital technology is essentially local access to worldwide information, and there is little worldwide consensus on how this should be handled and who’s jurisdiction it is. For example, someone from Country A is communicating with another person from Country B, and they are using a server maintained in Country C. So, if a problem arises, under which country’s laws is it handled? This can become very tricky, as different countries have different laws. Because of this, the US needs to be part of an international committee whose purpose is to codify a system of “Standards and Practices.” Guidelines regulating the obtainment of information and it’s appropriate usage should be created. Furthermore, penalties for violating this use should also be established, along with an agreement to enforce those penalties. This should reduce violations occurring both criminally and commercially. Of course, not all countries will be willing to participate, but establishing these laws for the majority would be the first step in managing global communications.

The US has the FTC to try and regulate these concerns within its own boundaries, yet the agency is having a difficult time. When it was established in 1914, it’s role was to prevent unfair methods of competition. Then in 1938 it’s role evolved to also “prevent fraud, deception, and unfair business practices in the marketplace.”[3] These provisions were established long before digital technology and simply do not meet the needed current regulation demands. There is just too much information. In 2009, for example, Google processed 24 petabytes (that’s 24 of 108 bytes) of information daily[4]; and that was six years ago. Neither the FTC’s size nor defined scope allow it to properly regulate and investigate the numerous concerns from all of this data. So, if the FTC can’t do it, who can?

One solution has been the required transparency and strict self-regulation of intermediaries; essentially, those companies through which consumers access information. These companies in effect “govern online life”[5] and include internet service providers such as Comcast and search engines such as Google. The problem with this method, however, is that there can be an inherent bias. Does Google prevent a site from being accessed because it has been identified as violating privacy rights, or because the site would compete with Google directly? And how does Google itself collect and use our private information? What is needed is a clear definition of use rules, as the Business Forum for Consumer Privacy has called for, which would “require all organizations to be transparent, offer and honor appropriate choice, ensure that risks to consumers related to use are assessed and managed, and implement security for the information they maintain.”[6Making the intermediaries more responsible for safety and security seems obvious, and clear law defining this monitoring is required. Yet we also need someone to “watch the watchers,” so to speak.

The establishment of a consumer-based council which would watch over the intermediaries and ensure they are complying with this model is necessary; this council could then file reports with the FTC after having conducted an investigation. Furthermore, the council could adhere to a strict confidentiality agreement to help maintain individual privacy; it could withhold individual names and identifying information from the FTC or any other government agency. This would eliminate the concern that “enforcement of privacy rights against enterprises would have the effect of exposing data to the government that otherwise would be forbidden to see.”[7] Thus privacy is maintained, and justice can still be meted out.

But creating laws and regulations and committees to enforce them is only part of the solution. Educating consumers is of the utmost importance. People need to be aware of where and how they are accessing information. Logging into a bank account from a random server while at a mall, for example, probably isn’t the safest way to look up that bank balance. It’s also critical to inform people of the unlikelihood that mailing $500 to a foreign country will result in the winning of an overseas lottery, and that they will probably never meet that attractive individual from a dating website whom they’ve been sending money. Additionally, people need to be educated on the importance of anti-virus protection, what malware does, and that Trojan describes more than a resident of ancient Troy. A safety study conducted in December 2005 discovered that 81% of personal home computers did not have “first-order protection measures such as current antivirus software, spyware protection, and effective firewalls.”[8] This is a scary statistic to be sure, and clearly the public is not receiving adequate information on how to utilize the internet safely. Another reality that needs to be reiterated to consumers is that once information is put out on the internet it becomes a public good, and can be retained there indefinitely. A series of public service announcements over the media, including television, radio, and even in print, would help educate individuals. Also, periodically noting safety suggestions on internet homepages would serve as a good reminder whenever people are online.

And what of privacy? Even according to the US Privacy Act of 1974, “the increasing use of computers and sophisticated information technology, while essential to the efficient operations of the Government, has greatly magnified the harm to individual privacy that can occur from any collection, maintenance, use, or dissemination of personal information.”[9] The bottom line is that consumers are essentially exchanging some level of privacy for the freedoms of communication, accessing information, and commerce that the internet provides. This is inescapable and inherit in design; the system is more “for flexibility…than security.”[10] This needs to be made clear to consumers through a variety of medium. Yet creating a private domestic council that would maintain privacy and assist the FTC, as well as establishing an international committee, are crucial to regulating digital technology. Furthermore, neither of these would unduly infringe upon civil liberties, allowing us as law-abiding consumers to continue to express our individuality and creativity.

[1]  Johnson, David R. “Democracy in Cyberspace: Self Governing Netizens & a New, Global Form of Civic Virtue, Online.” The Next Digital Decade: Essays on the Future of the Internet. Berin Szoka and Adam Marcus. Washington D.C.: TechFreedom, 2010. https://www.nyu.edu/projects/nissenbaum/papers/The-Next-Digital-Decade-Essays-on-the-Future-of-the-Internet.pdf . Accessed May 2015.

[2]  Downes, Larry. “A Market Approach to Privacy Policy.” The Next Digital Decade: Essays on the Future of the Internet. Berin Szoka and Adam Marcus. Washington D.C.: TechFreedom, 2010. https://www.nyu.edu/projects/nissenbaum/papers/The-Next-Digital-Decade-Essays-on-the-Future-of-the-Internet.pdf , pg 515. Accessed May 2015.

All preceding information contained within the paragraph regarding the types of misuses of data are taken from the author cited.

[3] Federal Trade Commission, About the FTC, Our strategic goals, https://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc . Accessed May 2015.

[4]  “MapReduce”. Portal.acm.org. Retrieved 16 August 2009. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petabyte . Accessed May 2015

[5]  Pasquale, Frank. “Trusting (and Verifying) Online Intermediaries‘ Policing.” The Next Digital Decade: Essays on the Future of the Internet. Berin Szoka and Adam Marcus. Washington D.C.: TechFreedom, 2010. https://www.nyu.edu/projects/nissenbaum/papers/The-Next-Digital-Decade-Essays-on-the-Future-of-the-Internet.pdf , pg 348. Accessed May 2015.

[6]  Downes, Larry. “A Market Approach to Privacy Policy.” The Next Digital Decade: Essays on the Future of the Internet. Berin Szoka and Adam Marcus. Washington D.C.: TechFreedom, 2010. https://www.nyu.edu/projects/nissenbaum/papers/The-Next-Digital-Decade-Essays-on-the-Future-of-the-Internet.pdf , pg 524. Accessed May 2015.

[7]  Ibid, pg 523.

[8]  AOL/NCSA ONLINE SAFETY STUDY 2 (Dec. 2005).

[9]  Pub.L. 93–579, 88 Stat. 1896, enacted December 31, 1974, 5 U.S.C. § 552a

[10]  Zitrrain, Johnathan. “Protecting the Internet Without Wrecking It: How to Meet the Security Threat.” The Next Digital Decade: Essays on the Future of the Internet. Berin Szoka and Adam Marcus. Washington D.C.: TechFreedom, 2010. http://www.nyu.edu/projects/nissenbaum/papers/The-Next-Digital-Decade-Essays-on-the-Future-of-the-Internet.pdf , pg 92. Accessed May 2015.

How Can The American Legal System Improve Its Approach To Policing And Regulating Digital Technology Without Unduly Stifling Innovation And Civil Liberties?                                                                                                                          

As globalization increases at an unprecedented rate and technology sprouts from nearly every nook and cranny of our daily lives, and increasingly so, the growing phenomenon carries a handful of questions and issues as outdated laws struggle to keep it in place. In particular, digital technology poses many questions, as it is becoming a grounds for illegal distribution, copyright infringement, and a free-riding resource that takes copious amounts of time, energy, and labor to create. In response, the American legal system can improve its regulation and policing of digital technology by ensuring digital technology is taken seriously, valued and affordable.

To begin, digital technology must be taken seriously; this is to say the limitless accounts, usernames, and information – which seem largely scattered about in the digital space – must be regulated to better identify individuals on the internet. Currently, there is a digital spider web of genuine, false, and somewhere-in-between accounts; many individual users do not have accounts, while other individual users have multiple accounts, some with conflicting information – this must be better regulated. The legislature needs to propose that everyone, somewhat like their social security number – but not the identical number for security purposes – has a digital security number. From this, all users must use their digital security number to create an account on any digital technological software, interface, etc. By doing so, digital technology will be better policed because all individuals knows that their digital security number will always trace back to them and thus this will serve as a self-policing deterrent.

Further, it not only gives the government an idea of how many internet users we have, but also it allows further innovation because there is less security risk of pirating, given the increased surveillance on accounts. While this may seem intrusive at first, it proves no more invasive than a social security number itself, and much like a social security number the negatives of stolen identity, fraud, and others come with this; however, it will help clear up the digital spider web and pave a clear path to additional secure innovation, while simultaneously reducing the number of individuals who use the digital world as a playground on others’ hard work and privacy. Additionally, while this only applies to residents of the United States, due to jurisdictional reasons, it seems this may be one of the largest pirating categories of individuals; after all many countries have created their own versions of digital technology. Most importantly, it allows digital users to take their digital identity as serious as their actual identity, and this leads me to my next point; by taking digital technology and identity more serious, one can find the value in the product.

Secondly, digital technology must be valued. One way to accomplish this is for legal entities to raise awareness to the public demonstrating the time, energy, hard work, and effort into making the digital technology. Often times, those who fail to notice the value in a product, do not see it as worthy of the price and are not confident in paying for it. If we can increase individual perceptions on the value of the product, we can further increase the likelihood individuals will confidently buy the products as they see them as a product of hard work and worthy of the price. Additionally, Peer-to-Peer sites must be more heavily regulated. By having countless expensive products suddenly free at one’s fingertips it not only takes away the value these products have, but it also allows one to free-ride on others’ product of intensive labor and time. With this in mind, to make digital technology further valued and confidently paid for, it must be appropriately priced and made more readily available.

Thirdly, another self-policing technique is making digital technology more affordable. Programs such as Photoshop, Microsoft Office, and After Effects are quite expensive based on a minimum wage salary – some even costing more than entry-line computers. Given this, many resort to pirating of software because purchasing the digital technology poses too great a burden to bear, demonstrating that even if a product is highly valued, if it is not affordable, individuals simply cannot make the purchase. Further, many countries allow programs central to computer functioning, such as Microsoft Office, to be installed as part of the factory settings, not all computers do this in the United States; this leads to both individuals becoming more apt to pirate such programs and individuals not valuing a product properly, due to lack of exposure to the product. If more knew about technology such as Photoshop, more would know the value of the product, and if it were more affordable, more would buy it confidently. The legislature could mandate that computers are to come installed with basic software free for both the purpose of exposure to the products and cheaper costs to the customers. For example, it could be mandated that computer companies are to pay software companies a given amount per computer, which has their product installed, and as a result, the computer company could receive a small amount back per computer purchased – this not only benefits individual consumers, because the digital technology price is fixed into the computers price and also because it is purchased via manufacturer-to-manufacturer at wholesale, but also the software and computer companies.

In sum, the American legal system often faces difficult tasks of balancing freedom and regulation, but one alternative is self-policing. To achieve further self-policing in the world of digital technology, if said technology is taken seriously, valued, and affordable, it is likely more individuals will front the cost because they are more confident in doing so. After all, we all know few things in life are free, however, we also know that when one is not confident in buying an expensive product, which one does not take seriously, it seems highly unlikely one would accept the burden. To conclude, digital technology seems to be on a strong positive curve of ever-expanding and ever-increasing, action must be taken, but rights are to be protected, as a solution to the American legal system approach, we need to aim for deterrence, confidence, and self-policing through affordability, digital security numbers, and valued products.

How Can The American Legal System Improve Its Approach To Policing And Regulating Digital Technology Without Unduly Stifling Innovation And Civil Liberties?

As digital innovation grows and internet access is becoming easily accessible to people from and the world, more individuals are invested in creating technology that not only makes the lives of its users easier but provides electronic material that is more advanced than what currently exist. Yet, as there will always be a steady rise in digital innovation there will always be legal concerns to where innovation ends and the need for and legal protection for its users begin. As the internet is this unlimited means to information, communication, and creation there are concerns as to if there should be limitations to its abilities, that might in turn stifle the ability for digital creatives to design products that help to move the nation further in advancements. Creation of digital media such as social media sites and blogs allow easy access to communication with people from every corner of the world but also allow for malicious members to gain access to other people’s information and private lives. In regulating such sites, is it ok to disrupt the innovated ability of quick communication because there are individuals who seek to use it with negative intentions? If anything there will always be people who choose to one up the system and go around the true intentions of digital technologies for malevolent objectives. The legal system might do better in understanding that these issues will occur and seeking to develop methods to weed out persons or companies that use media with negative intentions while still allowing people to create and distribute their innovated material to the world.

A step that would allow policing of digital technology to be carried out fairly is the creation of an Internet database that would allow individuals to reveal their concerns about certain technologies that they believe might be taking away certain rights and raising confidentiality issues. In the creation of this site people could file claims and these accusations could be investigated as to whether the legal assistance is necessary or not. Also, if the laws were directly geared towards just allowing the community to be informed about the limitations and possible privacy concerns about certain digital technologies and sites, individuals would be able to pick and choose which ones they might decide to use. This would allow advancement to continue while giving people the ability to see if certain sites would go against their privacy concerns from the beginning, consequently resulting in everyone having an understanding of what liberties and protection might be available to them. Individuals would not be able to state that they weren’t fully informed of what they were signing up for and people would have more access to information.

For example, in the most recent case of social media vs. civil liberty: Facebook has created a bit of a stir with the creation of something that have made many people feel like they were losing rights. In creation of Facebook’s new Messenger App that allowed their users to use a separate App from the original Facebook one to communicate with their friends via their phone; many people found issue with the App’s ability to share one’s information and location. This appeared to many as an invasion of privacy, although Facebook stated it was implemented to create a better service for its consumers. The program made many feel that their privacy was being imposed on and that innovation was more important than their rights.

This issue shows the problem that arises when modernization is met with a legal barrier that is in place. I believe the American legal system could go about situations like this and more by regulating technologies ability to access and manipulate it’s viewers information by requiring them to label the steps they are taking to protect the consumers privacy somewhere on their digital website or product. If a company were to state how they plan to protect one’s information at the start it’d be easier for a consumer to decide if it were the right type of product for them or not. Also, it is important for technology creators to let their consumer know if their information will be changed or updated, providing this information somewhere that is easy to read. Digital providers should also detail whether any changes will result in a change in privacy guidelines and they should state this upfront before the change begins, allowing people the chance to delete their account if they are uncomfortable.

Sometimes when sites update or change the way they have going about something they neglect to inform the consumers about all the changes that will be implicated. These results in anger from those consumers who feel they don’t have enough of a say in something that they are investing money and time in. Also, when sites evolve or upgrade their privacy settings are changed in result, in requiring that these changes be stated upfront people would be informed to what is happening to their information and whether they are ok with continuing to use this technology. Communication between creators of technology and those that use these products are essential to a society of well-informed citizens. Allowing the American Legal system to serve as a middleman between the law, technology advancement, and customer concerns would allow for a brighter future generation and progress in digital innovation to continue to thrive.

The advancement and progress of digital technology is reaching a point where many feel that one most choose to accept innovation while giving up their rights to privacy and civil liberty but the implication of certain limitations to this will not only allow advancement to continue but allow consumers to rest assure that they will not lose their rights to privacy.

How Can The American Legal System Improve Its Approach To Policing And Regulating Digital Technology Without Unduly Stifling Innovation And Civil Liberties?

A person is staring at you from outside your bedroom window. When people do this, we usually call the police and report a stalking incident. A different situation: A person is not staring at you directly from your bedroom window, but from a security camera at the building across the street, or maybe even the camera on your laptop, or the camera on your Xbox or PlayStation gaming system. This is just as scary as the person physically standing outside your window. However, the government is the person stalking you. It would not make sense to call the police on this one because the police are connected to the government. So, what do we do? The government has access to all of our calls, texts, emails, and even cameras in certain situations. Is this ethical? Who knows. Meanwhile, you are also terrified of a bomb being dropped on top of your house or someone coming to your town and shooting thousands of people. So, the government solves this problem by monitoring our digital technological devices in attempt to find information about planned attacks and prevent them from happening. No one likes to feel constantly monitored, but everyone wants to feel safe and secure, here lies the problem with digital technology. This problem can be somewhat fixed by improving the use of drones, Internet laws, and number of cameras and ridding of the tracking and storage of information without warrants.

One way that the government monitors its citizens is with the use of drones. Instead of using up lots of time and money to send people up in a helicopter on surveillance missions, search and rescue missions, and other activities, drones are more efficient because they do not need people to physically be in the craft and are able to fly faster than a helicopter. However, drone utilization can be abused when the government uses them without warrants and retains information that violates privacy liberties. Drones should not be used without warrants or without any probable cause. Flying drones around randomly is not an efficient use of technology. Drones also should not capture and retain unnecessary information that has nothing to do with crimes. They should not retain pictures or conversations without search warrants or other good reason because that is invading people’s privacy and inefficient for the government because they can get this information from conversations elsewhere, like phone calls or the Internet. The government can improve upon this regulation of digital technology by setting clear guidelines as to when drones need to be used and retain the information they capture in order to protect people’s civil liberties and improve upon efficiency of the legal system. Drones should be used with purpose and not for overbearing worry.

Another surveillance tactic that the government uses is the monitoring of the Internet. The Internet is used by basically everyone nowadays and people are willing to document their whole lives on the Internet in applications such as: Facebook, Instragram, and Twitter. Specifically on social media, many things that are said and done would not be acceptable in face-to-face life. The government should make what I like to call “Internet laws” that say what people can and cannot do/say on the Internet. Currently, there are some laws like this called “Netiquette”, but they are not very circulated on the Internet and few know about these etiquette rules. Threats are made online that go unnoticed and lots of bullying happens on the Internet that would not be tolerated if it were said out loud. While the government and police do take Internet threats seriously, there should be clear laws about what is and is not allowed, like how in real life people cannot shout “bomb” in an airport or “fire” in a crowded room, or pose as people they are not, such as a police officer or government official. If laws were laid out clearly, then the government could do a better job at tracking key words to catch people committing crimes and deter people from posting inappropriate things online, while not invading everyone’s privacy.  This could prevent many crimes from happening, including human trafficking, online prostitution, and imposters. These Internet laws can be implemented on TV public service commercials and ads on the Internet. Also, in terms and conditions of certain websites, it should be made clear that by going online, a person is submitting himself/herself to be monitored by the government so that everyone knows they are being tracked. The Internet is a useful tool for many, a tool of proactivity and entertainment, but also a tool that should be taken seriously.

Lastly, the government can improve on its use of cameras. If there are more cameras placed in high-violence areas, then it might deter many from committing crimes in that area and it would allow more evidence for crimes that are committed. While this might seem that it brings more of the “stalking” I referred to earlier and violates many civil liberties since we would literally be constantly watched, as long as there are postings of camera surveillance so the public is aware of it, it would actually be violating less liberties. If there are more cameras outside in public, then less private information, like texts, calls, and emails would need to be monitored because the government would have sufficient evidence from cameras to convict people of crimes and would have no real need to monitor private information. More cameras would prevent crime, provide more evidence for crimes that happen, and protect people’s personal information.

One thing that the government can completely rid of to protect people’s civil liberties and improve the efficiency and reputation of the government is the constant tracking of private information without warrants. The government can continue to monitor public information, like what people post on public social media pages, but abstain from viewing people’s private information, like texts, calls, and emails, unless they have a search warrant or other plausible reason. The police are not allowed to just open anyone’s mailbox at any time and read their mail, so they should not be able to monitor and store people’s information online. Also, the government should not have constant access to people’s personal medical files or other incredibly personal data that a person may not want shared. Only information collected after a warrant should be monitored constantly. The warrant allows the government to go back and retrieve the evidence they want, rather than constantly monitoring everyone all of the time. To be efficient and not stifle innovation, the government should only track and store information from people who have committed crimes previously or who are suspicious and have probable cause to track and store information has been established. People deserve to have their liberties respected in a country that was founded upon personal freedom.

To improve the status of the American legal system without defacing civil liberties and averting innovation, the government needs to use drones efficiently, establish clear Internet laws, create zones of high camera surveillance, and abstain from storing people’s personal information without probable cause.  America was founded on freedom and this freedom should be protected at all times. However, living in a safe country is as important as being free. All in all, it is nearly impossible to have a safer security system without sacrificing liberties. While some liberties may be sacrificed, innovation can be the way to find ways to make bigger and better technology that protects citizens yet allows for freedoms so that all will benefit. Perhaps someday we can even invent this technology that finds a way to protect everyone’s personal information by making that information only available to robots that protect America’s security. The future of innovation is imminent.