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Kendra Albert

Clinical Instructor and Director for the Initiative for a Representative First Amendment

Kendra is a public interest technology lawyer with a special interest in computer security law and freedom of expression. They serve as a clinical instructor at the Cyberlaw Clinic at Harvard Law School, where they teach students to practice law by working with pro bono clients. Kendra is also the founder and director of the Initiative for a Representative First Amendment.

They serve on the board of the ACLU of Massachusetts and the Tor Project, and provide support as a legal advisor for Hacking // Hustling. In their free time, Kendra enjoys giving away other people’s money, playing video games, and making people in power uncomfortable.


Projects & Tools

Past

Assembly: Disinformation

The Assembly: Disinformation Program brings together participants from academia, industry, government, and civil society from across disciplines to explore and make progress on…

Past

H2O

H2O is a Web-based platform for creating, editing, organizing, consuming, and sharing course materials.

Initiative for a Representative First Amendment

IfRFA is a shared project between the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society and the Cyberlaw Clinic.


Publications

Publication
Aug 14, 2017

Perspectives on Harmful Speech Online

This collection of short essays and opinion pieces on harmful speech online covers a broad spectrum of thought and ideas from the Berkman Klein community.


News

News
Jun 17, 2021

IfRFA presents: Black to the Future

A Conversation about Policing and the First Amendment

Video: A conversation about policing and the First Amendment

News
Oct 30, 2020

Cyberlaw Clinic and EFF publish Guide to Legal Risks of Security Research

Guide provides pragmatic guidance for navigating today’s uncertain legal landscape

News
Oct 1, 2019

Cyberlaw Clinic Announces Launch of New First Amendment Fellowship Program

Initiative for a Representative First Amendment seeks to cultivate a broader and more diverse community of freedom of expression practitioners

News
Dec 10, 2018

Clinic Releases Guide to Anti-Circumvention Exemption for Software Preservation

A new guide for preservationists who want to take advantage of the legal exemption to archive software

Miami Herald
Sep 17, 2018

City attorney sues blogger for libel. Is it ‘a threat designed to silence?’

In this article by Sarah Blaskey centered around litigation in the blogosphere, Kendra Albert provides context on the larger legal landscape.


Community

Can an online library of classic video games ever be legal?

Kendra Albert testified in front of the Copyright Office over the DMCA and a potential exemption that would apply to video games.

Apr 25, 2024
Cyberlaw Clinic Blog

Cyberlaw Clinic Testifies Before Copyright Office in DMCA Hearings

The Cyberlaw Clinic testified before the Copyright Office on exemptions to §1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which prohibits the circumvention of certain technical…

Apr 19, 2024
Atlanta Community Press Collective

Atlanta Police Foundation pushed ‘unprecedented’ surveillance plan

Clinical Instructor and Director for the Initiative for a Representative First Amendment Kendra Albert rebukes Atlanta Police Foundation's invasive individual electronic…

Apr 1, 2024
Yale Information Society Project

Imagine A Community: Obscenity’s History and Moderating Speech Online

Clinical instructor at the Cyberlaw Clinic and director of the Initiative for a Representative First Amendment Kendra Albert writes about the history of obscenity’s community…

Jun 1, 2023
Electronic Frontier Foundation

Podcast Episode: Safer Sex Work Makes a Safer Internet

Clinical instructor at the Cyberlaw Clinic Kendra Albert discusses how an internet that is safe for sex workers is an internet that is safer for everyone.

Apr 18, 2023
Mother Jones

Why Does Every Tech Company Want to “Democratize” Something?

"Kendra Albert, a clinical instructor at Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic, has studied “legal talismans”—terms like “free speech” that tech companies use to give legitimacy to…

Oct 30, 2022
The New York Times

Big Tech Should Support the Iranian People, Not the Regime

BKC Affiliate Afsaneh Rigot and Kendra Albert write about Big Tech and how they should support the Iranian people. "Expanded services...are no longer hindered by sanctions…

Sep 30, 2022
Marketplace

Why the First Amendment also protects code

“The First Amendment serves as a check on government intervention into our public expression through, for example, spoken or visually signed speech, writing, protesting and coding…

Sep 14, 2022
Patterns

Sex trouble: Sex/gender slippage, sex confusion, and sex obsession in machine learning using electronic health records

Kendra Albert writes about how researchers should handle sex/gender variables in different contexts like medicine, and the different pitfalls researchers may fall into. “False…

Aug 12, 2022
University of Florida Journal of Law & Public Policy

Bomb Body Politics: On the TSA's Algorithmic Policing of Gender

"Long before FAccT or ProPublica’s COMPAS reporting or Andrew Ferguson's book, the Department of Homeland Security was using sexist, racist algorithms to determine who to subject…

Jul 27, 2022
The Markup

After Dobbs, Advocates Fear School Surveillance Tools Could Put Teens at Risk

Kendra Albert discusses surveillance tools that could put teens at risk post Dobbs. “I’m always more worried about times when you just add more keywords to the system compared…

Jul 8, 2022
Medium

Fear, Uncertainty, and Period Trackers

Kendra Albert writes about the uncertainty surrounding period trackers, and breaks down the fears behind privacy issues surrounding such apps. “Period trackers are not the…

Jun 28, 2022
Bloomberg Law

From Harvard to Berkeley, Clinics Train Next-Gen Tech Lawyers

Kendra Albert and Christopher Bavitz share how the Cyberlaw Clinic prepares students to address the biggest issues in cyberspace.

Aug 25, 2021
Cyberlaw Clinic

How to Read a Docket

Mason Kortz and Kendra Albert explain how to read a court docket in a free guide

Jul 29, 2021
The Washington Post

Activision, an indie developer and the battle over the ‘Warzone’ name

Kendra Albert explains lawsuit over “Warzone” video game trademark

Jun 4, 2021
Protocol

The software industry dodges an API tax in Oracle decision

Kendra Albert weighs in on Supreme Court's fair-use decision

Apr 5, 2021
BKC Medium Collection

‘There has been less of a buffer’: discussing intimate partner violence during the pandemic

Berkman Klein Center event explores how technology factors into pandemic response

Mar 29, 2021
BKC Medium Collection

Movement Lawyering for Alternative Futures

Five community members speak about their vexed relationships to the law

Jan 4, 2021
BKC Medium Collection

Legal Risks of Adversarial Machine Learning Research

Studying or testing the security of any operational system potentially runs afoul of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

Jul 15, 2020
Bloomberg Law

Georgia Loses Legal Code Copyright Clash at Supreme Court

In a recent decision, the Supreme Court sided with public.resource.org. Cyberlaw Clinic students worked with Kendra Albert, Christopher Bavitz, and the Harvard Library Innovation…

Apr 27, 2020
Medium

Politics of Adversarial Machine Learning

Adversarial machine-learning attacks and defenses have political dimensions

Apr 23, 2020
News

From clinical student to clinical instructor

Kendra Albert shares their Cyberlaw Clinic story

Kendra Albert shares their Cyberlaw Clinic story

Feb 25, 2020
The Verge

The unpredictable legal implications of Trump’s Twitter-blocking defeat

Telling the president to unblock critics was easy, but interpreting the rule for other government accounts could be hard

Jul 11, 2019
Harvard Law Review Blog

Their Law

BKC’s Kendra Albert comments on the gender binary and law

Jun 26, 2019
ECT News Network

Proposed Law Would Force Big Tech to Reveal Value of Consumer Data

U.S. Senate bill would require companies to report to financial regulators and to the public what consumer data they collect and how they leverage it for profit

Jun 25, 2019
Digiday

Chrome’s privacy changes are a humbling reminder for subscription publishers

A software update to Chrome will make websites unable to detect whether visitors are browsing the web in “incognito mode”

Jun 25, 2019
The Texas Tribune

Texas bill would allow state to sue social media companies like Facebook and Twitter over free speech

The proposal aims to protect users on social media platforms from censorship if a site advertises itself as impartial. Critics say the bill is too restrictive.

Apr 23, 2019
Slate

The Government’s Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Case Against Assange

Assange is accused of conspiring to violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Proving that may be tricky.

Charges against Assange and implications for journalism

Apr 11, 2019
The Cyberlaw Clinic

Clinic Files Amicus Brief Arguing for Broader Access to Government Databases Through FOIA

Providing aggregate data access to media professionals

Mar 29, 2019
The Hill

Nunes Faces Tough Odds with Twitter Lawsuit

A Twitter lawsuit and protected forms of speech

Mar 23, 2019
Harvard Law Today

Why I Changed My Mind

Four faculty members reconsider long-held professional views

Jonathan Zittrain and Kendra Albert share moments when they had to re-examine some of their most closely held ideas about issues ranging from gun laws to brownies.

Mar 8, 2019
Medium

Law and Adversarial Machine Learning

A survey of existing legal remedies for attacks that have been demonstrated on machine learning systems, and suggests some potential areas of exploration for machine learning…

Dec 20, 2018
arXiv

Law and Adversarial Machine Learning

When machine learning systems fail because of adversarial manipulation, how should society expect the law to respond?

Oct 26, 2018
Cyberlaw Clinic

A Victory for Software Preservation

DMCA Exemption Granted for SPN

The HLS Cyberlaw Clinic helped receive an exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act anti-circumvention provisions to allow libraries, archivists, museums, and other…

Oct 26, 2018

Courses

Cyberlaw Clinic Seminar - Fall 2023

This seminar is required for all students enrolled in the Cyberlaw Clinic. The course incorporates instruction about substantive legal issues at the heart of the Clinic’s practice…

Transgender Rights and the Law: Assumptions and Critiques - Fall 2022

How does American law treat transgender, genderfluid, nonbinary, agender, and gender‐nonconforming people? What assumptions about gender operate in legal doctrines, and how do…


Events

May 14, 2024 @ 9:00 AM

ComstockCon

May 14, hosted by Initiative for a Representative First Amendment

Please note that the event is at capacity for in-person participation. Click RSVP to register for virtual participation.ComstockCon is a convening inspired by the fallout from the…

Apr 2, 2024 @ 3:00 PM

Not My Type: Automating Sexual Racism in Online Dating

Conversation & Book Signing

A new book by Dr. Apryl Williams exposes how race-based discrimination is a fundamental part of the most popular and influential dating algorithms. “Not My Type: Automating…

Oct 31, 2023 @ 12:00 PM

The Afterlife of Anthony Comstock

Abortion, Bodily Autonomy, and Obscenity (1873 - 2023)

“The Afterlife of Anthony Comstock” connects the Comstock Act of 1873 with current attacks on bodily autonomy and freedom.

Oct 2, 2023 @ 3:30 PM

Not With A Bug, But With A Sticker

the story, science, and societal effects of attacking AI systems

Ram Shankar Siva Kumar shows how major AI systems remain vulnerable to exploits...

Event
Mar 23, 2023 @ 12:00 PM

“Weaponizing Misogyny”: Gender-Based Harassment’s Impact on Journalists and Free Expression

Join IfRFA for a discussion of how gender-based harassment online and off shapes our speech environment, leading to differing coverage and barriers to the free expression of ideas…

Apr 20, 2022 @ 12:00 PM

So You Want to Work on Public Interest Cybersecurity

A Conversation with Eva Galperin

Eva Galperin discusses her wide-ranging work in cybersecurity with Kendra Albert.

Apr 12, 2022 @ 11:00 AM

Design From the Margins: Centering the Decentered

hosted by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

At the Belfer Center, Afsaneh Rigot discusses findings from the "Digital Crime Scenes" report with Jessica Fjeld, Jack Harrison-Quintana (Grindr), and Kathryn Harnett (WhatsApp),…

Dec 7, 2021 @ 12:00 PM

IfRFA Presents: First Amendment Careers

This event showcased the work of several friends of IfRFA who work on a range of freedom of expression issues. Panelists discussed how they came into their current roles, provided…

Feb 9, 2021 @ 12:00 PM

Marginalized Women, Technology, COVID-19, and Intimate Partner Violence

Video & Podcast: Is there a vaccine for our pandemic?

Video & Podcast: Experts from multiple disciplines discuss how technology and online public spaces help (and hurt) violence victims amid COVID-19 policies and realities

Event
Jan 6, 2021 @ 12:00 PM

A More Representative First Amendment?

Video & Podcast: A Conversation with Khaled Beydoun and Justin Hansford

Video & Podcast: Professors Khaled Beydoun and Justin Hansford join IfRFA Director Kendra Albert for a discussion of the way in which First Amendment work could better engage with…

Mar 25, 2020 @ 1:30 PM

[Canceled] Cyberlaw Clinic @ 20

Symposium on Lawyering, Tech, and the Public Interest

This event has been canceled but may be rescheduled.

Nov 5, 2019 @ 12:00 PM

Regulating Social Media

HLS Journal of Legislation’s 2019 Symposium

A three-day symposium at Harvard Law School

Event
Sep 10, 2019 @ 12:00 PM

Can Tech be Governed?

BKC Luncheon Series: Public Kickoff featuring Jonathan Zittrain

VIDEO & PODCAST: How different is this technology from what preceded it, and do we need new ways to govern it? If so, how would they come about?

Apr 9, 2019 @ 12:00 PM

Constitutionalizing Speech Platforms

Featuring Kate Klonick and Thomas Kadri with members of the BKC community

PODCAST & VIDEO: We're never going to get a global set of norms for online speech but do the platforms pick our global values and constitutionalize them? Something to tie them to…

Sep 29, 2018 @ 4:00 PM

NETIZENS

Boston Women's Film Festival

A screening of the film NETIZENS, followed by a panel discussion led by Kendra Albert, a clinical instructional fellow at the Cyberlaw Clinic at Harvard Law School.

Event
Jan 30, 2018 @ 12:00 PM

The “Monkey Selfie” Case: Can Non-Humans Hold Copyrights?

featuring a panel of experts on copyright, cyber law, and intermediary liability issues

Can non-human animals own copyrights? Can artificial intelligence machines? Join the Berkman Klein Center, the Harvard Law School Animal Law & Policy Program, and the HLS Student…

Oct 11, 2016 @ 12:00 PM

Beyond Legal Talismans

with Berkman Klein Affiliate Kendra Albert

In this talk, Kendra Albert explores how introducing legal terms of art invoked for their weight but often divorced from law, known as “legal talismans”, impacts online platforms…

Nov 13, 2012 @ 12:30 PM

This is Improbable

Featuring Marc Abrahams and other special guests

Marc Abrahams -- publisher of the Annals of Improbable Research, host of the annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony, and author of several books (including his latest, This is Improbable:…