Tech Will Require Continued Adjustment and Definition Within the Law, Experts Say

Government Technology covers a panel held on April 10 at the National Constitution Center featuring Jim Harper, Vice President of CEI.

During an in-depth panel discussion April 10 at the National Constitution Center, legal experts tackled the multi-faceted conversation of how technology and the law fit together in the 21st century.

Among the more poignant topics addressed by the group, the issue of the third-party doctrine, which essentially allows the government to pursue any information held by a company on behalf of an individual without the necessity of a warrant.

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Jim Harper, vice president of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, also said proportionality would be difficult to implement, comparing it to the test to determine “reasonable” in the legal sense. While defining what might seem reasonable or proportionate, determining what is acceptable on the societal level is easier said than done.

“Proportionality, as you’ve identified, is very hard for judges to administer. Just like the reasonable expectation of privacy test, it asks a panel of judges … to figure out what society’s privacy preferences are and whether those are reasonable or not,” Harper said. “That’s not a juridical exercise.”

Read the full article at Government Technology.