Law and social science (LSS) scholarship has demonstrated that the law in practice differs from the law on the books, and that social, political, and identity-based factors shape legal outcomes. Yet, LSS scholars have not yet fully grappled with the ways that technological innovations are reshaping the legal landscape. The time is ripe to explore the legal terrain being created through new technologies. [Find out more…]

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Directors & Fellows blog the “law and computation” series for Platypus, the CASTAC Blog

Platypus, the Committee on the Anthropology of Science, Technology, and Computing Blog, is featuring a seven part series on “law and computation” authored by the Directors and Fellows of the Technology, Law Society Institute. Each post features a discussion of how changes in technology are revolutionizing the study and practice of law. Read the series… Continue Reading Directors & Fellows blog the “law and computation” series for Platypus, the CASTAC Blog

New “Law In Computation” Post on CASTAC Blog by Chris Bates

I was perplexed by the K5 by Knightscope, a “fully autonomous security data machine,” rolling through the Irvine Spectrum Shopping Center last summer. I am not cavalier, nor naive, about my rights to privacy, confidentiality, and anonymity. However, I fully expect to be captured by surveillance cameras from my arrival to departure in many private… Continue Reading New “Law In Computation” Post on CASTAC Blog by Chris Bates

New “Law In Computation” Post on CASTAC Blog by Dr. Mona Lynch

Back in the mid-1990s when I was a graduate student, I “interned” at a parole office as part of my methods training in field research. In my first week, another intern—an undergraduate administration of justice student from a local college—trained me in how to complete pre-release reports for those men and women coming out of… Continue Reading New “Law In Computation” Post on CASTAC Blog by Dr. Mona Lynch

New “Law In Computation” Post on CASTAC Blog by Noopur Raval

Data Doppelgängers and Issues of Consent In February 2018, journalist Kashmir Hill wrote about her collaboration with researcher Surya Mattu to make her (Hill’s) home as “smart” as possible. They wanted to see what they could learn about privacy, both from the perspective of living in such a house and from the ‘data fumes’ or… Continue Reading New “Law In Computation” Post on CASTAC Blog by Noopur Raval

New “Law in Computation” Post on CASTAC Blog by John R. Emery

Killer Robots: Algorithmic Warfare and Techno-Ethics War is an experiment in catastrophe; yet, policymakers today believe chance can be tamed and ‘ethical war’ waged by simply increasing battlefield technology, systematically removing human error/bias. How does an increasingly artificially intelligent battlefield reshape our capacity to think ethically in warfare (Schwartz, 2016)? Traditional ethics of war bases… Continue Reading New “Law in Computation” Post on CASTAC Blog by John R. Emery

New “Law In Computation” Post on CASTAC Blog by Evan Conaway

Privacy and Piracy: Investigating Unauthorized Online Gaming When we play an online game like World of Warcraft, where are we? This is not just a metaphysical question—are we in the fantasy world of Azeroth or in front of our computers—but a legal one as well. And there are multiple answers to that legal question. We… Continue Reading New “Law In Computation” Post on CASTAC Blog by Evan Conaway

New “Law In Computation” Post on CASTAC Blog by Tania DoCarmo

The Migrant’s Right to a Digital Identity According to the World Bank, over 1 billion people live without a formally recognized identity. With funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, Accenture and Microsoft, and motivated by UN Sustainable Development Goal 16.9, to “provide legal identity for all” by 2030, the ID2020 Alliance is a UN sponsored public-private… Continue Reading New “Law In Computation” Post on CASTAC Blog by Tania DoCarmo

Introductory “Law In Computation” Post on CASTAC Blog by Dr. Bill Maurer

From Law in Action to Law in Computation: Preparing PhD Students for Technology, Law and Society In 2015, a robot buying illicit items off the “dark web” was confiscated by the Swiss authorities along with its haul of Ecstasy pills, a Hungarian passport, counterfeit designer clothing, and other items. Dubbed Random Darknet Shopper it was… Continue Reading Introductory “Law In Computation” Post on CASTAC Blog by Dr. Bill Maurer