STLR/CIS Symposium 2007

Beyond a Physical Conception of the 4th Amendment: Search & Seizure in the Digital Age

The Topic

Technological change increasingly complicates criminal investigation: third-party Internet service providers, not individuals, store sensitive user information such as e-mail, while global positioning satellites allow the government to track private citizens' movements and thermal imaging technology permits law enforcement to monitor activity inside the home. Recent high-profile legal cases have involved government requests for user identification and content from technological giants such as Apple and Google, bypassing the users themselves. These issues are exemplified by the current political controversy over NSA surveillance and the need for judicial oversight. In short, a physical conception of privacy may no longer be adequate when technology allows the tracking of new kinds of personal information that is accessible in entirely new ways.

Current scholarship continues to play an essential role in expanding the legal thinking on the 4th Amendment in ways that can keep pace with this dizzying technological progress. The Stanford Center for Internet and Society, Stanford Criminal Justice Center and Stanford Technology Law Review have invited scholars and practitioners from around the country to participate in a Symposium this January on the future of the 4th Amendment in this digital age.

The Authors

The 2007 Symposium will take place on Friday, January 26, 2007 at Stanford Law School and will feature the writings of 6 scholars:

• Paul Ohm, University of Colorado - The Olmsteadian Seizure Clause
• Susan Freiwald, University of San Francisco - A First Principles Approach to Communications' Privacy
• Deirdre Mulligan and Jack Lerner, Boalt Hall - Taking the "long view" on the Fourth Amendment: Stored Records and the Sanctity of the Home
• Nicky Ozer, ACLU of Northern California - RFID Technology and Legislation
• Richard Salgado, Yahoo! - International Perspectives on Digital Search

The Commentors

The Symposium will also include the following commenters who will discuss the ideas presented in the papers:

• Vik Amar, Hastings College of the Law
• Richard Downing, Department of Justice, Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section
• Donald Dripps, University of San Diego School of Law
• Lauren Gelman, Stanford Center for Internet and Society
• Jennifer Granick, Stanford Center for Internet and Society
• Nicholas Humy, Federal Public Defender, N.D. Cal.
• Orin Kerr, George Washington University Law School
• Matthew Lamberti, Assistant U.S. Attorney, N.D. Cal.
• David Molnar, Ph.D. Candidate, U.C. Berkeley Computer Science Dept.
• Myron Moskovitz, Golden Gate University School of Law
• Erin Murphy, Boalt Hall
• Alexandra Natapoff, Loyola Law School
• Christopher Slobogin, Stanford Law School (visiting from University of Florida)
• Ed Swanson, Swanson & McNamara LLP
• Robert Weisberg, Stanford Law School

Online Commenting

STLR wants to make this symposium an interactive event. To facilitate public discussion of the ideas presented in the symposium, abstracts and working drafts of the papers will be posted on the STLR site as they are completed. STLR invites anyone who wishes to participate to post comments regarding the papers on the site, which the authors can review and use to help refine their articles. The drafts will be available for comments through January 25, 2007. The final versions of the articles will be published on the site in the spring.