Health-Tech Apps: Unclear Regulations and Their Effects on Progress
Emily Dieli The increased emphasis on creating a more streamlined healthcare system in the United States has led to a rise in digital health-tech apps and devices. To protect the privacy of personal health data on these technologies, policymakers have turned towards regulation. The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) recent statement on the Health Breach Notification (HBN) Rule has extended the scope of the 2009 regulation to include previously unregulated health-tech entities. Nevertheless, the statement is vague and will have a negative impact on health-tech innovation. Policymakers should consider the implications of their regulations on health-tech progress before making such hasty...
The Intersection of Product Liability Law and the Internet of Things
Lucas M. Amodio Every year, an increasing number of Internet of Things devices are released. These devices can make our lives easier, but they also make our data, and potentially ourselves, more vulnerable to hackers. The question is no longer theoretical, as many of these devices can have a real impact on the world around them, like a networked sprinkler system that, if hacked, could flood a target’s basement. Going forward, we can look to the current law of product liability and the Federal Trade Commission to protect individuals from harm and loss when these devices might be compromised. Read...
The Facebook Diem Project: Can Big Tech Create Its Own Currencies?
Jo-an Chen Cryptocurrencies are rising in popularity as both a means for investment and a medium for exchange for goods and services. In 2019, Facebook announced its intent to create a new stablecoin cryptocurrency called Libra as a means to promote financial inclusion and access to the unbanked population. After its initial failed launch in 2019 due to heavy regulatory criticism over data privacy, money laundering, and financial instability concerns, Facebook is once again seeking to relaunch the Diem Project in 2021. This Essay discusses the potential social benefits, the disruption to financial institutions, and the regulatory challenges that the...
The Great Equalizer: Education or Technology?
Amy Lobue This Essay evaluates the structure of technology funding in education and how it has impacted students’ access to quality instruction throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As access to education throughout the pandemic depended on students’ and schools’ abilities to procure access to connected devices, some students were left with minimal to no instruction. Further, the pandemic sheds light on the existing technology access inequities that trace the lines between socioeconomic classes. First, technology access is defined as a two-fold issue: access to the internet, and access to devices other than smartphones. This Essay presents the current federal funding structure...
Data Privacy Concerns Regarding COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps and Implications for the Field of Cybersecurity
Elana Lerner Brockmann The COVID-19 public health emergency has led to the development of contact tracing apps that enable governments and public health officials to track outbreaks and take appropriate measures in response. Contact tracing apps also allow individuals to be notified of potential contacts with infected individuals, promoting self-quarantine and reducing further spread of the virus. Although contact tracing apps have the potential to slow and reduce the spread of COVID-19, they have also brought to light data privacy and security concerns, which pose challenges to their overall use and efficacy. Congress should enact legislation to protect consumer data...
Curbing Widespread Discrimination by Artificial Intelligence Hiring Tools: An Ex Ante Solution
Bradfield E. A. Biggers Artificial intelligence (AI) acolytes insist AI will pave the way for idealistic workplace hiring. Their idea is that AI can circumvent common human frailties, such as prejudices and narrow-mindedness, to achieve social and economic equality. Yet inherent biases permeating into AI algorithms stifle society’s goal of promoting equality in the workplace. Despite a growing awareness of AI’s potential for prejudice, politicians are slow to support substantial legislation regulating AI. Nevertheless, the judiciary will inevitably be tasked with addressing discrimination by AI technologies through an unprecedented construction of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964....
Applied Natural Language Processing for Law Practice
Brian S. Haney Scholars, lawyers, and commentators are predicting the end of the legal profession, citing specific examples of artificial intelligence (AI) systems out-performing lawyers in certain legal tasks. Yet, technology’s role in the practice of law is nothing new. The Internet, email, and databases like Westlaw and Lexis have been altering legal practice for decades. Despite technology’s evolution across other industries, in many ways the practice of law remains static in its essential functions. The dynamics of legal technology are defined by the organization and quality of data, rather than innovation. This Article explores the state of the art...
Google v. Oracle: Weighing Fair Use Factors in Software Copyright Infringement Cases
Guodong Fu The ongoing battle for clarity on the limitation of United States copyright protection in the software industry has yielded inconsistent results over the past ten years. Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc., currently before the Supreme Court, may finally shed some light on the status of copyright protection as applied to software. In deciding the case, the Court must balance the four fair use factors as applied to software copyrights. The Court will likely navigate a fine line to balance maintaining a market of interoperability with fair competition. This Essay argues that the Supreme Court should maintain a...
The Internet of Things: How Digital Copyright Rules Govern Our Physical World
Jessica Barbaria Intellectual property law governs the digital world. Thus, copyright law controls how digital content, such as software, is shared and accessed. Digital content is generally licensed, permitting users to save and use a copy of software but not to own it outright. Because the internet enables monitoring of these licenses, copyright holders can ensure users do not infringe on copyright or violate their license agreements in other ways. Software also enables advanced capabilities in physical products. For example, car manufactures can remotely modify settings to benefit drivers after they buy their cars. That said, software updates come with...
Deep Fakes Accountability Act: Overbroad and Ineffective
Zachary Schapiro Improvements in technology have made it easy to create deep fakes: realistic false digital records depicting a person performing actions that did not occur. Although there are legitimate uses for deep fakes, like parodies or finishing a movie where a principal performer has died, they can inflict harm upon the individual depicted or the general public if, for example, used to influence the outcome of an election. Considering these detrimental uses, Congress has proposed the Defending Each and Every Person from False Appearances by Keeping Exploitation Subject to Accountability Act of 2019 (DEEP FAKES Act) to impose civil...