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Forbes
NIST AI Guidelines Misplace Responsibility For Managing Risks
Policymakers are scrambling to keep pace with technological advancements in artificial intelligence. The recent release of draft guidelines from the U.S. AI Safety Institute, a…
Blog
The social significance of the Consolidated Audit Trail
Personal privacy is important. The ability of citizens to communicate and do business with one another – and to do so with some degree of…
Reason
Senate To Vote on Web Censorship Bill Disguised as Kids Safety
Reason cites Jessica Melugin on KOSA safety flaws “KOSA would trigger mandatory uploading of government id’s, face scans or social security numbers of…
Search Posts
Forbes
NIST AI Guidelines Misplace Responsibility For Managing Risks
Policymakers are scrambling to keep pace with technological advancements in artificial intelligence. The recent release of draft guidelines from the U.S. AI Safety Institute, a…
Blog
The social significance of the Consolidated Audit Trail
Personal privacy is important. The ability of citizens to communicate and do business with one another – and to do so with some degree of…
Reason
Senate To Vote on Web Censorship Bill Disguised as Kids Safety
Reason cites Jessica Melugin on KOSA safety flaws “KOSA would trigger mandatory uploading of government id’s, face scans or social security numbers of…
Blog
US move to ban TikTok a troubling signal for our great experiment in self-determination
As a part of a foreign aid funding package, the Senate passed a bill mandating TikTok’s divestiture from Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance. Biden…
Blog
Important question: How many people will new AI regulations kill?
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently released a draft memorandum outlining new requirements for federal agencies using artificial intelligence (AI).
Blog
Central banks are watching. Let’s watch them back.
One of the biggest dangers of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), I and others have warned, is that it would give a government that…
Comment
CEI Comments on the Proposed Regulation on Digital Discrimination of Access
Introduction. On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), we respectfully submit the following comments in response to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) notice of…
News Release
House Republican-Led Investigation into TikTok Data Practices Highlights Concerns with Blurred Lines Between Private Entities and Government
WASHINGTON—Two senior House Republicans announced a national security-focused investigation into TikTok today. Rep. James Comer (R-KY), ranking member of the House Oversight and Reform…
News Release
Congress Has Bad Ideas on Tech Regulation: CEI Report
Congress has some bad ideas on regulating Big Tech, and a new Competitive Enterprise Institute report breaks it all down. “Lawmakers say they are concerned…
Study
How Congress and the Federal Communications Commission Can Help Improve Affordable Internet Access to Underserved Populations
June 30, 2022 …
Blog
The American Data Privacy and Protection Act Fails to Streamline Privacy Laws Nationwide and Promote Technological Innovation
As more states pass state-level data privacy laws, federal privacy law is becoming increasingly necessary to prevent a patchwork of confusing state-level legislation.
News Release
EU Digital Markets Act Threatens Consumer Access to Online Services, Products
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report examines a European Union proposal to impose restrictions on technology companies, like stopping companies from preferencing house-brand products…
Blog
Ten Terrible Tech Bills from the 117th Congress: Banning Surveillance Advertising Act of 2022
DuckDuckGo is a success story. Launched in 2008, the online search engine has centered its product around privacy. In short, they “don’t collect or…
Blog
Ten Terrible Tech Bills from the 117th Congress: Open App Markets Act
Congress has an unhealthy fixation with app stores—and Congress isn’t alone. Both government and private parties filed antitrust lawsuits last year against the largest…
Blog
Escalation of Surveillance Threatens Right to Anonymity
The Biden administration has pressured big tech social media platforms to advance its policies in areas like cultural debates, climate interventions, and to stifle dissent…
Real Clear Policy
How Congress Can Build the Right Data Privacy Framework
Last month, Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed into law the Utah Consumer Privacy Act, making Utah the fourth U.S. state —…
Study
Central Bank Digital Currencies Threaten Global Stability and Financial Privacy
Executive Summary As digital currencies go mainstream around the world, governments and international financial bodies are seeking to develop ways to regulate them. Some countries…
Blog
Lawmakers Should Tread Carefully When Trying to Balance Privacy with Security
It’s been said that a compromise is the art of dividing a cake in such a way that everyone believes he has the biggest…
Blog
Virginia, Famed for Its Ham, Delivers a Turkey on Privacy
The Virginia House of Delegates and Senate recently passed consumer privacy legislation, the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. The bill has elements similar to its…
Blog
Biden Tech Policy Preview
Joe Biden has been declared the president-elect (I’m pretty sure). Here’s what a Biden administration and a (presumably) divided Congress might mean for tech issues.
Blog
FinCEN Files Shows Regulatory and Privacy Concerns with the Bank Secrecy Act and the Necessity for Reform or Repeal
Last month, BuzzFeed News published an investigative report that alleged that banks sat on their hands while criminals laundered trillions of dollars over the…
Blog
SAFE DATA Act a Risk for Consumers
Republican members of the Senate Commerce Committee recently introduced the SAFE DATA Act. While the bill includes much needed federal preemption of state privacy laws,…
Study
Policy Principles: Consumer Privacy
PRIVACY The right to privacy is a bedrock principle of a free society and essential to today’s economy. Yet, privacy protection is an ever-evolving field.
Blog
Gingrich Praise of Huawei is Dangerously Misguided
After attempting to cover up the spread of the novel coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese Communist Party is now engaged in a…
Blog
California’s New Privacy Law Will Harm Consumers and Innovation
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) goes into effect January 1, 2020. The law requires companies of a certain size that collect information on customers…
Blog
Cautiously Optimistic about Facebook’s New Approach to Speech
It seems increasingly the case that there is a lot more to like about what Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has to say than not. His…
News Release
How to Sell Your Data without Selling Your Soul
In the Internet Age, the use and analysis of personal data holds an enormous amount of economic value, but use of that data can expose…
Study
Selling Your Data without Selling Your Soul
Humans have always sought to defend a zone of privacy around themselves—to protect their personal information, their intimate actions and relationships, and their thoughts and…
Blog
Facebook’s $5 Billion Privacy Fine Almost Certainly Too High
Facebook has faced intense criticism from lawmakers and regulators since last spring, when The Observer and The New York Times reported that data from over…
News Release
Breaking Up Tech Companies Will Harm Consumers and Halt Industry Dynamism
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust is holding a hearing today to consider the merits of antitrust regulation of large technology companies, including Amazon, Apple,…
News Release
Regulators Should Let Consumers and Merchants Decide the Fate of Facebook’s Cryptocurrency
Facebook, Inc. today released a white paper outlining plans to launch a new cryptocurrency named “Libra.” According to the white paper, Libra would be built…
Blog
Costs of Loss of Anonymity in Administrative Surveillance State
The ability of citizens to communicate privately and to retain anonymity if desired are foundational rights slipping away in the regulatory panopticon of the administrative…
Blog
White House Uses Discredited Complaints Tactic against Social Media Companies
My colleague Wayne Crews has already slammed the White House for a first step towards government regulation of online speech in its “tech bias” complaints…
Blog
Breaking up and Regulating Facebook: Unfair, Un-American, Unacceptable
Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, former publisher of The New Republic, argues in a long essay for The New York Times that the company should be…
Blog
Don’t Let Facebook Team up with Big Government to Censor the Web
Facebook’s expulsion of several controversial figures from its platform last week is an example of a company managing its own private property to what it…
Blog
Americans Optimistic about Role of Tech and Platforms
At a time when big tech companies are being attacked over bigness, privacy, elections, and the ordering of their news feeds, the Charles Koch Institute…
Blog
Facebook’s Call for Regulation Could Lead to Government Censorship
The Internet is unique in history not because it lacked “rules” about free expression, but that it expanded that broadcast freedom to all, not just…
Blog
Move Slowly and Establish Rules: Facebook’s Call for Regulation
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s motto used to be “Move fast and break things.” Now that his company is under increased political scrutiny—and facing calls for…
Fox Business
VIDEO: Ryan Radia Discusses Facebook Privacy Concerns on Cavuto Coast to Coast
Competitive Enterprise Institute Research Fellow Ryan Radia joined Cavuto Coast to Coast to discuss Facebook privacy concerns.
Blog
Agenda for the 116th Congress: Tech and Telecom
As technology and telecommunications evolve, new challenges inevitably arise for policy makers. New mandates or prohibitions should be avoided in all but the most exceptional…
Blog
What Do the Midterms Mean for Big Tech?
For the big technology firms, the midterm elections were never going to change much. Whatever the result, they were going to face more scrutiny over the…
Blog
Ditch Antitrust Regulation in Favor of Competing Bigness
The Federal Trade Commission (born in 1914, fathered by Woodrow Wilson) is hosting a series of hearings and discussions on “Competition and Consumer Protection…
News Release
Supreme Court Refuses to Consider If Searching Internet IPs Requires Warrant
The Competitive Enterprise Institute is disappointed that the Supreme Court has refused to consider if the government can search what websites a person accesses online…
News Release
CEI Commends Supreme Court’s Decision Protecting Carpenter Against Unreasonable Search
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Timothy Carpenter in Carpenter v. United States, finding that the government violated his Fourth Amendment protection against…
France24
Heightened Debate in US as EU Privacy Rules Take Effect
France24 cited Ryan Radia on the market conditions created by GDPR. Ryan Radia of the Competitive Enterprise Institute said that although GDPR…
The Daily Caller
Facebook And Google Accused Of Violating Europe’s New Law On The First Day
The Daily Caller cited Ryan Radia on the impact of GDPR in enabling favorable market conditions to the dismay of small businesses. “The…
News Release
CEI Report: Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation Costs Everyone, Provides Little
In a new Competitive Enterprise Institute report released today, CEI’s regulatory counsel and technology policy expert Ryan Radia argues that the EU’s new privacy rules…
Study
European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation and Lessons for U.S. Privacy Policy
The European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which enters into effect on May 25, 2018, is the most significant policy change regarding data…
Blog
Facebook Privacy Critics Ignore Benefits of Social Media
Facebook is not a tool designed to violate privacy nor fan the flames of hate, but it and other social media platforms have been some…
Blog
Senator Grills Zuckerberg While Gathering His Own Facebook User Data
One of the most glaring moments of hypocrisy during yesterday's Facebook hearing came from Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) telling Zuckerberg that he felt “betrayed”…
Blog
Zuckerberg Testimony Hints at Devil’s Bargain with Big Government
Much of the political class in Washington, D.C. is currently holding its breath for the big event of the week: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s long-awaited…
Forbes
Mark Zuckerberg Testimony: Will Washington Cast The First Stone At Facebook?
As Facebook is embroiled in three separate privacy crises, let he who never transacts commercially or politically cast the first stone.
Blog
Congress Impatient for Zuckerberg Privacy Testimony
With Facebook in Congress’s crosshairs, America’s leading Internet companies—sometimes known as “big tech”—arguably face a greater risk of regulation than at any time in their…
Blog
Investigate Labor Relations Board Confidentiality Breach
Earlier this week, the Competitive Enterprise Institute sent a request to the National Labor Relations Board Office of Inspector General to investigate NLRB member…
Blog
European-Style Tech Regulation Not the Answer to Facebook Privacy Concerns
The fallout at Facebook continues to grow after it was revealed that millions of Facebook users’ data was used by the consulting firm Cambridge…
Blog
Consumers Lose in European Union’s Struggle against Google
Anti-technology hysteria continues to build in the European Union. Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for Competition, confirmed today that she is still considering breaking…
Blog
Next Steps in Facebook Privacy Fallout
Privacy policies at Facebook—and, by extension, other major online platforms—have sparked furious debate in recent days because of the revelations regarding…
Blog
Chuck Schumer’s Unconstitutional Money-Wasting Machine
If you wanted a counterterrorism technology that could match Amtrak in terms of derailments, you couldn’t do much better than to use “stand-off explosive detection…
USA Today
Supreme Court weighs privacy rights in digital age in pivotal cellphone case
USA Today cited the Competitive Enterprise Institute about the dangers to personal freedoms and privacy for third-party information to be available to law enforcement without requiring a…
Townhall
Legal Authority in the Clouds
Townhall covers CEI’s support of the CLOUD Act of 2018. Cloud storage and computing is an emerging technology increasingly in use worldwide.
Reason
National I.D. By Any Other Name Still Stinks
Reason covers the release of a new report published by the Cato Institute and authored by Jim Harper. There have been many pushes to…
U.S. News & World Report
Cutting Off Consumers
A new regulation will burden low- and middle-income Americans reliant on payday loans. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau just released a new rule against payday…
The Hill
Right-Leaning Groups Back International Data Privacy Bill
Blog
Bringing Net Neutrality Back from the Dead Would Be a Big Mistake for Congress
Passing a Congressional Review Act resolution to nullify the Restoring Internet Freedom Order would be as bad an idea as net neutrality regulations themselves were.
Blog
Increasing Public Awareness Bolsters Potential for Blockchain Applications
Blockchain is a software architecture that seems very likely to unleash profound global forces if it crosses over into the mainstream.
Blog
Supreme Court Should Safeguard Rights to Digital Property in Microsoft Case
The Court should recognize that communications and data are property, and cut off the “innovative” use of subpoenas to collect data that should require a…
Bloomberg Politics
China Uses Facial Recognition to Fence In Villagers in Far West
Bloomberg Politics discusses new surveillance technology being tested in China with Jim Harper. China’s state surveillance apparatus is trying out a new tool in…
The Washington Post
Bitcoin Got a Big Boost in 2017. Here are 5 Other Cryptocurrencies to Watch in 2018.
The Washington Post discusses cryptocurrencies with Jim Harper. Mainstream investors spent much of last year trying to figure out how to jump in on …
Blog
End CFPB’s Collection of Americans’ Financial Data
Last week, when the drama of the dueling directors began at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), I told The Washington Examiner that the…
Blog
Economics Will Be Our Ruination, Bitcoin Edition—and Some Notes on Securing Your Cryptocurrency
Asked about Bitcoin last week, economics Nobel laureate and Columbia University professor Joseph Stiglitz said, among other gems, “It ought to be outlawed. It…
Hudson Institute
Who Owns The Digital Information About You?
The Hudson Institute covers Carpenter v. United States and CEI’s amicus brief in the case with the Cato Institute and the Committee for Justice. Legal…
Forbes
Who Owns the Digital Information About You?
Harold Furchtgott-Roth, writing for Forbes, covers Carpenter v. United States. Legal analysts claim that Carpenter v. United States, argued earlier this…
Blog
Supreme Court can Strike a Victory for Privacy in Carpenter v. United States
The “reasonable expectation of privacy” test invites courts into difficult line-drawing exercises when they try to apply the Fourth Amendment in hard cases.
The Wall Street Journal
Supreme Court to Weigh Warrantless Cellphone Data Searches
The Wall Street Journal covers Carpetner v. United States. A pillar of modern policing will come under Supreme Court scrutiny Wednesday as the government…
The Wall Street Journal
Is It Unreasonable to Expect Cellphone Privacy?
A case that comes before the Supreme Court Wednesday may erode or solidify Justice Antonin Scalia’s legacy. How the justices decide in Carpenter v. U.S. won’t matter…
USA Today
Supreme Court Weighs Privacy Rights in Digital Age in Pivotal Cellphone Case
USA Today covers the upcoming argument of Carpenter v. United States. Timothy Carpenter’s mistake in the armed robberies of cellphone stores in Michigan and Ohio…
Blog
Federal Office of Financial Research Violates Privacy, Produces Little of Value
The American people would be better off without it.
Blog
Fed Confirms Government Regulation Is Not the Answer to Equifax Data Breach
More regulation will not help protect the financial system against cyber attacks, such as the Equifax hack.
The Hill
Right-Leaning Groups Back International Data Privacy Bill
The Hill covers CEI and other groups’ support of the International Communications Privacy Act. A coalition of right-leaning groups is pressing Congress to act…
InsideSources
Three Early Lessons From the Equifax Hack
InsideSources covers the Equifax breach and Jim Harper‘s response to it. It’s been almost two weeks since Equifax reported the hack of 143…
Blog
The Equifax Breach and Regulation
In the Equifax breach, regulation is a likely contributor to the problem. It is probably not a good solution.
Blog
President’s Summer Policy Update
When it comes to the institutions of capitalism, the advance of human welfare, and liberty, we are here because we love the work.
TechCrunch
Privacy Advocates Advise Supreme Court to Protect Phone Location Data under the 4th Amendment
TechCrunch covers CEI’s amicus brief in Carpenter v. United States. Among the Supreme Court’s many upcoming cases is Carpenter v. United States,…
Cato
To Apply the Fourth Amendment in the Digital Age, Go Back to Its Text
Cato covers CEI’s amicus brief in Carpenter v. United States. Timothy Carpenter and Timothy Sanders were convicted in federal court on charges stemming…
Blog
Defending 4th Amendment Privacy Protections for Digital Property
People have property rights in data about themselves that is allocated by contract between them and their service providers.
Blog
TechFreedom Hosts Policy Summit on Future of Technology Regulation
Our friends at TechFreedom recently treated technology policy nerds in D.C. to a policy summit.
Fox Business Network
VIDEO: Jim Harper Discusses NSA Spying on Kennedy
Jim Harper, Vice President of CEI, discusses NSA spying on Fox Business Network’s Kennedy.
Blog
For the Sake of Financial Privacy, IRS Subpoena of Coinbase Should Go
Our brief in United States v. Coinbase might have a lot to say about what the future of financial privacy looks like.
Blog
Protect Free Speech Guarantees of Communications Decency Act
If operators of websites were responsible for what each of their users posted online, they could be on the hook for every potential defamation, infliction…
Blog
Federal Government Finally Powers Down on Y2K Crisis
Regulating new technologies is especially risky. The high-tech sector is an evolving frontier. Frontiers are always a bit chaotic, and it is inherent in their…
Fox Business Network
VIDEO: Jim Harper Discusses NSA Leak on Fox Business Network
Jim Harper, Vice President of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, discusses a recent NSA Leak with Kennedy on Fox Business Network.
News Release
CEI Responds to SCOTUS Acceptance of Warrantless Cell Phone Tracking Case
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it will hear a case determining whether law enforcement should require a warrant to track suspects through cell phone…
Citation
VIDEO: Jim Harper Discusses U.S. Surveillance Laws on Fox Business
CEI technology policy expert and Vice President Jim Harper joined Kennedy on Fox Business to discuss U.S. surveillance laws and the vote on extending the Foreign Intelligence…
Fortune
Privacy Advocates Pour Hate on Vote To Repeal Internet Privacy Protections
Fortune discusses the Federal Communication Commission’s broadband privacy rules with Ryan Radia. For the pro-business think tank the Competitive Enterprise Institute, however, the…
Blog
Six Reasons FCC Rules Are Not Needed to Protect Privacy
The Competitive Enterprise Institute has been long been skeptical of the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) approach to regulating how Internet service providers (ISPs) use subscriber…
The Hill
Hopefully FTC gets to do what it does best: Regulate privacy
The Hill highlights CEI and Tech Freedom’s coalition letter on the Federal Communication Commission’s role in regulating broadband privacy. Of course, the new…
Blog
Broadband Privacy Regulations Need to Be Revised by FCC or Repealed by Congress
The Federal Communications Commission does not have the authority to rewrite the Wiretap Act to suit its policy preferences.
Blog
States Should Resist Pressure to Implement REAL ID Act
National requirements for state ID cards are an abuse of the constitutional division of power between the states and the federal government.
Blog
Public Interest Groups Urge Update of Email Privacy Protections
This week, CEI joined dozens of public interest groups, trade associations, and companies in sending a letter to Congress in support of the…
Blog
New Congress Needs to Modernize Tech Policy
With respect to tech and telecom, lawmakers should avoid imposing new mandates and prohibitions in response to new technologies that might seem threatening, absent exceptional…