November 20, 2013

Security the Scariest Part About the Internet of Things – Director Kohno quoted by Washington Post

“Very often we see sectors of the broader industry that are not computer  science experts starting to integrate computers into their systems and then start to integrate networks into those systems,” said Kohno. “Because they don’t have experience being attacked by real attackers, like Microsoft and so on, their level of security awareness … appears […]

November 17, 2013

When Apps Attack – Director Calo contributes to Forbes.com

(photo credit Johan Larsson) My colleague Yoshi told me an interesting story the other day.  He looked down at his smart phone to find a large spider running across it.  Understandably, my colleague dropped the phone in surprise.  The screen on the phone cracked when it hit the floor. It turns out there was no […]

October 29, 2013

An End to Cookie Tracking? – Prof. Calo quoted by The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal is saying "The end could be near for cookies, the tiny pieces of code that marketers deploy on Web browsers to track people's online movements, serve targeted advertising and amass valuable user profiles."

October 3, 2013

Tech Policy Lab Co-Directors Quoted in FTC Report on the Internet of Things

FTC

In 2013 the FTC hosted a workshop on The Internet of Things: Privacy and Security in a Connected World where Lab Faculty Directors Ryan Calo and Yoshi Kohno participated in panels. The below report includes Co-Director Kohno’s recommendation that security should be designed into every IoT product, at every stage of development, including early on in the design cycle of a technology.

Problematic Advertising Strategy – Ryan Calo featured in The Atlantic

Ryan Calo’s research on Digital Market Manipulation is featured in a new piece by Rebecca Rosen in The Atlantic. “Most of the time, targeted ads are pretty harmless. You searched for a flight to Denver? Here are some hotels in Denver. You looked for new running sneakers? Here are a few options. But a new “study” from marketing […]

September 11, 2013

Sales Pitches From Your Refrigerator (New York Times)

Everyday devices are getting smarter, more connected. Soon your refrigerator will tell you when it’s time to buy milk. But as long as the fridge is making suggestions, why not suggest a particular brand? And did you know you can save 10 cents if you also buy the same brand’s new ice cream? Read Ryan’s […]

September 5, 2013

What Does It Really Matter If Companies Are Tracking Us Online? (The Atlantic)

The Atlantic explores the erosion of online privacy through the lens of Ryan Calo’s “Digital Market Manipulation”: A new paper by professor Ryan Calo at the University of Washington goes the furthest I have seen in elucidating the potential harms of digital-ad targeting. And his argument basically boils down to this: This isn’t about the […]

September 1, 2013

How Online Advertisers Could Use Your Data Against You

We all know about the data being collected on us by advertisers while we’re online. But what are the ethical ramifications of collecting this data? Ryan Calo, professor at the University of Washington, has written on the future of digital marketing in the Stanford Law Review Online and joins Marketplace Tech host Ben Johnson to discuss the different […]

March 5, 2013

Bad laws would hurt good drones

Ryan Calo writes at CNN on the uneasy collision of drones and privacy: An Alitalia passenger jet pilot said he saw a drone over Brooklyn on Monday. Whether it’s true or not — the Federal Aviation Administration is investigating — we are going to be hearing more and more about drones in American skies.

Drones Come Home, Privacy Concerns Fly High

Ryan Calo appears on Talk of the Nation to discuss drones and privacy law: Well Ari, you know, there’s very little in the way of American privacy law that stands in the way of drones. You know, there is no, for instance, reasonable expectation of privacy in public or from something viewable from a public […]