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FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER  

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EARN IT Act Could Change Online Communication As We Know It

For nearly 25 years, a law known as Section 230 has been essential for free expression online. Without the protections that Section 230 offers, platforms could be held liable for any and all content posted using their services, significantly limiting users’ ability to access and post information online.

Today, Section 230 is under more scrutiny than ever. A proposal circulating on Capitol Hill from Senator Lindsey Graham, the Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies (EARN IT) Act, presents itself as a reasonable effort to create best practices to fight truly abhorrent exploitation of children. But the measures in the proposal — including unnecessarily amending Section 230 — could eventually prevent online services from providing secure, end-to-end encrypted communications, and would actually give the Attorney General significant and unaccountable power to regulate speech, control online services, and undermine our privacy and security.

Our analysis of the proposal is available here ([link removed]). With your support, CDT continues to be a leading voice for free expression online.

In Case You Missed It

Washington state legislators kicked off the 2020 session by introducing new comprehensive privacy legislation, the Washington Privacy Act. After reviewing the January 20 draft bill, it’s clear it is better than last year's iteration, but still needs more work to make sure it clearly applies to all the right information, actors, and behaviors. We think the bill can be strengthened in a number of ways ([link removed]), including how it defines key terms, scopes certain exceptions, allows for meaningful enforcement, and empowers consumers to defend their legal rights in court.

Electronic monitoring of young people in the juvenile justice system is on the rise nationwide, but very little data exists about how the technology is being used and to what effect — until now. In this episode of CDT's podcast ([link removed]), Tech Talk, we chat with Berkeley Law professor Catherine Crump about her new research and its policy implications. She finds that this technology is widening the net of surveillance over youth, without achieving broader societal benefits. 

Thanks to a strong legislative push from Senator Patrick Leahy and a little help from CDT, the U.S. government will be compelled ([link removed]) to publicly disclose information about electronic device searches that are conducted at the border. In recent years the number of these searches has grown significantly, and this remarkable win for transparency and accountability will arm Congress with information that should inform further action and oversight on this issue. ([link removed])

CDT in the Press

Maurice Turner on the Iowa caucuses, ABC Live ([link removed]): "Our election systems are far more secure than they were just two years ago, and they are leagues beyond what we saw in 2016. State officials, local officials, and federal agencies have all come together to make sure that voters can be confident that their vote won't be changed, but that doesn't help when we have incidents like this where there are small operational and technical issues early on in the process."

Maurice Turner, Washington Post ([link removed]): "These kinds of technical issues and operational delays play right into the game plan of malicious actors. [They] can leverage these small facts and turn them into viral misinformation messages speculating about hacking or corruption being behind the irregularities."

CDT in Person

Hacking the U.S. Election: How Can We Make U.S. Elections More Secure? Free and fair elections are essential to a thriving democracy, but the integrity of U.S. elections is facing multi-pronged threats. What are the main threats, and what can be done?

Sponsored by Penn State Dickinson Law, The Center for Democracy & Technology, Penn State Institute for Computational and Data Sciences, and the Brennan Center for Justice, and with assistance from The Honorable Thomas Ridge, First Secretary of U.S. Department of Homeland Security and 43rd Governor, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and Congressman Fred Keller, this symposium will bring together leading federal lawmakers, state election officials, Congressional staffers, researchers, members of the intelligence communities, academics, and media to address the two primary threats to the U.S. elections — election security and social engineering. February 24, 8:30 AM—1:00 PM. RSVP here ([link removed]).

Partner Spotlight

Wondering what the next decade will bring for blockchain? The Chamber of Digital Commerce and Georgetown University's Center for Financial Markets and Policy are pleased to present the fifth annual DC Blockchain Summit. This gathering of the Chamber's membership will bring together the world's leading blockchain executives and technologists, public policymakers, and academics - all with a common passion for blockchain technology.

Register today ([link removed]) and use our special discount code CDT2020 for 15% off. 

Staff Spotlight
Chris Calabrese — Interim Co-CEO and Vice President, Policy

How long have you been working in digital rights? Basically my entire career. My first job as a young lawyer was working for a Massachusetts state senator who had long chaired the state's science and technology committee. I jumped right off the deep end into issues like genetic discrimination. Then, in my time at the ACLU, I focused on all things privacy — state campaigns on national ID cards, mobile app transparency, ECPA reform — it pretty much ran the gamut.

What is your favorite policy area here at CDT? Well, I oversee all our policy work, so that's sort of unfair, like asking me to pick between my children. I really do love the ability I have to look at the entire tech landscape — how privacy legislation might impact free expression. Or how internet standards and protocols can shape human rights. Right now one of the most difficult areas we're grappling with is the problems that come from the sheer scale of the internet. Billions of videos and posts are shared every day — before we can shape digital policies, we need to find a way to more fully understand this immense online reality.

What is the best book you've read recently? I just finished an excellent novel by Leigh Bardugo called Ninth House. It's a mashup of the Sixth Sense, Harry Potter, and detective fiction. The protagonist is a young woman who can see ghosts (spoiler — that turns out to be horrible) and ends up working with the secret magical societies that actually run Yale University. Great fun!

Dogs or cats? Well, I have a lovely mutt named Holly. I'm sure she'd be sad if I picked anything but dogs. 

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