The Cyberlaw Podcast

Episode 325: Solipsistic Europocrisy meets Judicial Imperialism

07.20.2020 - By Stewart BakerPlay

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In our 325th episode of the Cyberlaw Podcast, Stewart Baker interviews Darrell West, political commentator and author of Turning Point – Policymaking in the Era of Artificial Intelligence. Stewart is also joined Sultan Meghji (@sultanmeghji), Paul Hughes, Nate Jones (@n8jones81), Mark MacCarthy (@Mark_MacCarthy) to discuss: The big news of the week was the breathtakingly arrogant decision of the European Court of Justice, announcing that it would declare how governments could use personal data in fighting crime and terrorism.; Even more gobsmacking, the court decided that it was imposing those rules on every government on the planet – except the members of the European Union, who are beyond its reach. Oh, and by the way the court blew up the Privacy Shield, exposing every transatlantic business to massive liability, and put the EU on a collision course with China about how China organizes its most sensitive domestic security operations. This won't end well. Paul Hughes helps me make sense of the ruling.; Iranian cyberspies make pretty good training videos, Sultan Meghji tells us, but they're not taking any bows after leaving the videos exposed online.; If you thought Twitter's content resembled middle school, wait until you see their security measures in action.  Nate Jones has the details, but my takeaway is that middle school science projects are usually handled more responsibly than Twitter's "god mode" dashboard.; BIPA, the Illinois biometric privacy act, has inspired lawsuits against users of a database assembled to reduce AI bias. Mark MacCarthy explains that the law prohibits use of biometrics (like your face) without consent. I observe that this makes BIPA the COVID-19 of privacy law. Anyone who touches this database is infected with liability, at least if the plaintiff’s surprisingly plausible theory holds up.; Sultan reminds us that the PRC has now been caught twice requiring companies in China to use tax software with built-in malware. You know what they say: "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action." I don't think we'll wait long for number three.; Nate gives us a former government lawyer's take on the CIA's new authority to conduct cyber covert action. Ordinarily he'd be skeptical of keeping those decisions away from the White House, but in this case, he'll make an exception. My take: If unshackling the CIA has produced the APT34 and FSB hacks and data dumps, what's not to like?; In short takes, I mock the Justice Department spokesperson who claimed that Ghislaine Maxwell was engaged in "a misguided effort to evade detection" when she wrapped her cellphone in tin foil.; And Mark and I cross swords over Reddit's capture by the Intolerant Left. You make the call: When Reddit declares that exposing fake hate crimes as hoaxes is a form of hate speech, is that anecdotal evidence of left-wing bias or stone cold evidence of a mindset that refuses to be disturbed by facts that deviate from today's Left Narrative?; And more! The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not reflect the opinions of their institutions, clients, friends, families, or pets.

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