Call for Participants—Between First and Fourth: Privacy and Speech on the Frontier of Technology

Berkman Center Study Groups

UPDATE: Applications are now closed. For more on this study group, see the syllabus page.

This year the Berkman Center is piloting a new, agile and responsive format for exploring the important questions facing Internet and Society through in-depth discussion and development. The Study Group format encourages public participation with anyone in the greater Boston community, including students from Harvard and other Boston-area institutions, industry experts, and so on. Study Groups foster diversity of participation across disciplines and experience to tackle interesting questions in novel ways and with fresh perspective.

Starting at the end of January, the ACLU of Massachusetts is convening a Study Group to explore the tensions that emerging technologies raise between the first and fourth amendments.

Between First and Fourth: Privacy and Speech on the Frontier of Technology

Privacy and free speech—two constitutional rights that often complement each other. In the information age, however, the tension between these values is increasingly apparent. Individuals, corporations, and governments create, use, store, and sometimes lose vast amounts of personal information. New technologies, databases, and systems—such as drones, Google Glass and biometrics—are being used at an increasing scale by both public and private actors. How can we use information without undermining privacy? How can we protect information without restricting free speech? These questions are not rhetorical. In this Study Group, we will explore the technologies, actors, and values at play in the space between speech and privacy in the information age.

The goal is to surface the legal and policy questions and gaps as these emerging technologies change the landscape, borrowing from an interdisciplinary perspective. Sessions will involve robust discussion and participation in a seminar-style format. Attorneys of the ACLU of Massachusetts will lead the conversation each week.

We are opening the call for participants to members of the greater Boston community, including students from Harvard and other Boston-area institutions, industry experts, and so on drawing from a mix of different interests and backgrounds—e.g. technology, law, economics, and social sciences. To encourage rich discussion and consistent participation, the group will consist of roughly fifteen people. Participants will be selected among applications submitted via this web form by January 19 <http://goo.gl/forms/tV1Mlqu05n>.

To efficiently drive conversation in the room, participants will be asked to read a few select background texts prior to meetings. We ask that participants commit in advance to attend each session of the Study Group and complete the readings. The group will meet six times in the spring semester.

Wednesdays, 6:30–7:30 PM

Harvard Law School Campus room TBD, Cambridge MA

January 28
February 11
February 25
March 11
March 25
April 8

Applications are due January 19, 2015. Please apply using this form. <http://goo.gl/forms/tV1Mlqu05n>

Feel free to share this opportunity with anyone who might be interested in participating.

Sara M. Watson <swatson@cyber.harvard.edu>
Berkman Study Groups Coordinator