Here’s my latest cartoon – about AI job replacement.
Cartoon: Technology Incentives
This cartoon illustrates a key point my new book, ON PRIVACY AND TECHNOLOGY — the law must establish the right incentives for technology to promote privacy, safety, and other important values:
Only by establishing the right legal structure and the right incentives can the law succeed in holding creators and users of technology accountable. Instead, the law often does the opposite. It empowers the powerful; it makes exceptions for new technologies from traditional mechanisms of accountability; it allows organizations to construct business models based on massive scale and cheap expenses that are only possible by externalizing costs to individuals. Courts often fail to recognize privacy harms or trivialize them. Even when there are clear violations of privacy laws, courts use creativity not to help victims but to close off ways to obtain redress. Through its actions, the law is sending a message regarding new technologies: to create and use them irresponsibly and to care mainly about growth and profit. When harm is caused, the law often finds a way to help the wrongdoer evade responsibility. To avoid a dystopian future, we must demand that the law take a different path. (pp. 107-108)
You can order the book here.
Privacy in 2025: Privacy in Authoritarian Times
In 2025, we have seen significant privacy invasions at the federal level and a push to weaken and nullify privacy protections.
Here are some writings and videos that discuss the situation we’re in and why it should be of concern.
Privacy in Authoritarian Times
Earlier this year, I wrote Privacy in Authoritarian Times: Surveillance Capitalism and Government Surveillance.
I wish I could say that my concerns were wrong, but sadly, the events of the past few months have shown that we’re at a most dire time for privacy.
Cartoon: Individual Privacy Rights
Here’s a cartoon about individual privacy rights. As I argued in my article, The Limitations of Privacy Rights, 98 Notre Dame Law Review 975 (2023), privacy law puts far to much onus on individuals to protect their privacy through exercising privacy rights such as rights to access, correct, object, or delete. These rights are time-consuming to use and do not scale given the number of companies that collect and use personal data. People just don’t know enough information to exercise rights in a meaningful way.
Resources on Privacy Law Careers
The field of privacy is expanding rapidly, yet breaking into it can be challenging. Today I will share some essential resources I developed to kickstart or enhance your career in the privacy field.
My full collection of resources is here on this master page.
Privacy Law Job Listings
Head over here to see a listing of privacy jobs. I update this weekly.
My Guide to 400+ Privacy Books
Notable Privacy Books: A Journey Through History
In this essay, I explore over 400 privacy-related books spanning more than 70 years! Examining the books chronologically also opens a window into history, as the books reflect the concerns, ideas, and terminology of the times in which they were written.
Privacy Cartoon Fun
Here’s a new privacy cartoon for you to enjoy, along with a selection of my favorite classics from the archive. Enjoy the laughs!
If the Real World Were Like the Internet
Notable Privacy Books: A Journey Through History
Last week, I had the opportunity to present a talk on “Notable Privacy Books: A Journey Through History” at CPDP. I discussed many books about privacy from the 1960s to the present. The video of my talk is here. I subsequently created a more complete list of books – 400+ books over the past 70+ years.
Abstract:
In this essay, I discuss notable privacy books from the 1960s to 2020s – seven decades and more than 400 books. I briefly explain why each book is noteworthy. Examining the books chronologically also opens a window into history, as the books reflect the concerns, ideas, and terminology of the times in which they were written. The books also shed light on the discourse about privacy, which has evolved over the decades. In the past few decades, attention to privacy issues has significantly increased, and the number of books has proliferated. The books involve many perspectives, fields, and approaches: philosophical, journalistic, sociological, legal, literary, anthropological, political, empirical, psychological, and historical.
Webinar: The New Anatomy of Health Privacy Law Blog
Health privacy law is currently a vast, complicated, and changing landscape of many different laws. This webinar focused on this landscape and covered HIPAA and the various state privacy laws that involve health data.
Speakers include:
- Daniel Solove (GW Law & TeachPrivacy)
- Kirk Nahra (WilmerHale)
Privacy Program Topics
Navigating the evolving landscape of privacy can be daunting – so many different laws on different topics.
I recently created a whiteboard (1-page visual summary) to depict the breadth and complexity of this landscape.
Download my new whiteboard on Privacy Program Topics.
It’s free!
These days, privacy training is too complex to not be created by an expert. Unfortunately, I see many attempts by general training vendors to create privacy training – but the results are bad and incomplete.
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