Information Privacy Law at the Crossroads: The 2023 Boston University Law Review Conference

Boston University School of Law
Friday, November 3, 2023
Classroom 102

The field of Information Privacy Law is undergoing a significant shift. For the past two decades, lawmakers and judges have attempted to protect people’s privacy by keeping companies honest, mandating caution, and requiring compliance with Fair Information Practices. These practices aim to establish secure and sustainable data processing while also granting individuals control over their informational dentinies. However, the world has changed considerably since 2000. Industry and government regularly engage in biometric surveillance and algorithmically-driven decision-making. Information privacy concerns now permeate many different areas of life and law, with implications for democracy, equality, identity, markets, and labor, among others.

Lawmakers and judges have tried to respond to these developments, but it’s unclear whether we need stronger rules to enforce traditional privacy notions or entirely new approaches. At the same time, privacy remains a concept in disarray, and privacy theorists are currently debating how privacy theory can contribute to discussions about how tech platforms, artificial intelligence, and other information technologies affect civil rights, reproductive justice, consumer protection, safe and fair employment, free expression, and public health.

This symposium aims to gather leading privacy scholars to examine the current state of privacy law and theory and explore its direction. With the introduction of the first bipartisan omnibus bill in Congress in a decade, President Biden calling for better privacy legislation, and states enacting a flurry of new privacy laws, it is an excellent time to revisit privacy law’s commitments and map its future in a world where people are exposed and exploited like never before.

Agenda
Please note, all sessions will take place in classroom 102

8:30am Continental Breakfast will be available in the BU School of Law Atrium.

9:00 – 9:15 Welcome and Introduction: Woodrow Hartzog, Boston University School of Law

9:15-10:30 Panel 1 (Is Privacy Law Coherent?): How have privacy law and theory developed over the past two decades? Has privacy law ever been a coherent field? What purpose is it serving? What needs have privacy law and theory failed to address?

Moderator: Alexis Shore (Boston University)

Daniel Solove (George Washington University)
Maria Angel (University of Washington, School of Law)
Salome Viljoen (University of Michigan Law School)
Danielle Citron (University of Virginia, School of Law)

10:30 am – 10:45 am Break

10:45-Noon Panel 2 (Democracy): What does information privacy law have to do with democracy and other core societal institutions? How are information technologies being used to endanger democracy? Are current rules meaningfully protecting democratic participation in governance and democratic institutions? Should they? 

Moderator: Christopher Robertson (Boston University School of Law)

Meg Jones (Georgetown University)
Ngozi Okidegbe (Boston University School of Law)
Paul Schwartz (University of California Berkeley)
Helen Nissenbaum (Cornell Tech)

Noon – 1:15 pm Lunch in Barristers Hall

1:15 – 2:30 pm Panel 3 (Equality):  What does information privacy law have to do with equality? How are information technologies being used to endanger equality and civil rights? Are current rules meaningfully protecting communities that have been traditionally marginalized due to their race, gender, sexual identity, and ability? 

Moderator: Julie Dahlstrom (Boston University School of Law)

Anita Allen (University of Pennsylvania, Carey Law School)
Khiara M. Bridges (University of California Berkeley, School of Law)
Scott Skinner-Thompson (University of Colorado)
Ari Waldman (University of California Irvine, Law)

2:30 – 3:45 pm Panel 4 (Identity and Expression): What does information privacy law have to do with identity and free expression? How are information technologies being used to endanger identity formation and expressive activities? What are the current tensions and harmonies between privacy and free expression? 

Moderator: Claudia Haupt (Northeastern University, School of Law)

Neil Richards (Washington University in St. Louis)
Margot Kaminski (University of Colorado, School of Law)
Jasmine McNealy (University of Florida)
Zahra Takhshid (University of Denver, Strum College of Law)

3:45 pm – 4:00 pm Break

4:00 pm – 5:45 pm Panel 5 (Labor, Employment, and Markets): What does information privacy law have to do with labor, employment, and markets? How do privacy rules affect people’s working conditions and the ability of consumers to safely interact in the marketplace? Should consumer protection, competition, and employment law be more sensitive to privacy concerns?

Moderator: Rory Van Loo (Boston University School of Law)

Pauline Kim (Washington University in St. Louis, School of Law)
Paul Ohm (Georgetown University Law Center)
William McGeveran (University of Minnesota, Law School)
Chris Gilliard (Just Tech Fellow at the Social Science Research Council)

Boston University School of Law strives to be accessible, inclusive and diverse in our facilities, programming and academic offerings. Your experience in this event is important to us. If you have a disability (including but not limited to learning or attention, mental health, concussion, vision, mobility, hearing, physical or other health related), require communication access services for the deaf or hard of hearing, or believe that you require a reasonable accommodation for another reason, please contact lawevent@bu.edu to discuss your needs. Please note, that the office of Disability Services typically requires 10 business days notice for services.