Cyber Law

Students will gain a broad knowledge of constitutional, civil, criminal, and related legal considerations that arise in the context of work or citizenship in an increasingly cyber/digital world.  Whether the student seeks a career in the public or private sector, the student will gain insight into both the limits and authorities on government or private sector activities, from the creation and protection of intellectual property, to the investigation of unlawful cyber activities, to the considerations of cyber operations in an increasingly dangerous world.  This broadened awareness will help students successfully navigate and strengthen personal and professional choices as they move ahead. The course consisted of two broad themes in the digital world. The first half of the course examined various legal concerns that broadly affect citizens and private entities – from basic cybersecurity, freedom of expression, internet regulations, information-gathering and access to information, privacy, to intellectual property and other topics. The second half of the course examines legal authorities of, and limits imposed on U.S. government organizations and personnel (e.g., domestic law enforcement agencies) involved in cyber investigations. These inquiries encompass the U.S. Constitution and relevant laws, regulations, directives, and policies. The second portion of the course also introduced students to legal and policy concerns that arise in international cyber operations. Course content meets the National Security Agency’s legal requirements for a Center for Cybersecurity Excellence in Operations designation, which ODU now holds.

Course Material

Assignment 1

For this assignment, we acted as an aide to a governor in a state where there were no privacy laws in place to protect citizens personal data. Because of this, constituents within the state have been calling and angrily complaining to the governor about the lack of protection of their personal data – the collection and use of which they believe violates their privacy. As it now stands, the constituents’ personal data is being collected and used by people and organizations without consent. Some constituents have also expressed their anger about the collection and use of their “biometric data”; other constituents mentioned something about “PII” and related concepts; and others called for the need for the state to enact laws like the “GDPR”. The governor wants to understand the issues surrounding data protection and privacy issues/concerns and perhaps propose legislation, and our job was to help him do so. Below is my memorandum written to the governor describing what data protection and privacy concerns are about and why constituents are calling him, examples of the terms constituents used, and what specific types of additional data should be protected that are not currently protected in the state by federal laws.

Why we need privacy laws cyberlaw1

Assignment 2

For this assignment, we acted as a legislative research aide for a U.S. House of Representative member in their district in the state of Virginia, who faces a contested re-election bid in the fall of 2022. While preparing for his re-election bid, the Rep. wants to show the constituents their commitment to enacting proposed legislation (laws) or highlighting existing legislation that protects the American people from cybersecurity threats from here or abroad. To do this, the Rep. plans on rolling out a series of letters to constituents about proposed or existing laws designed to strengthen cybersecurity in the U.S. Their hope is that voters will better understand cybersecurity threats and appreciate what has been or is being done about it through the passage of good legislation. My job was to write a background research memo for them after I have identified one such proposed or existing cybersecurity law. Below is the background research memo written for the Rep. after I identified one such proposed or existing cybersecurity law.

CYBER LAW MEMO cyberlaw2

Assignment 3

For this assignment, we were asked to review Lawfare Podcast Episode #96 below representing former FBI Director James Comey’s comments and questions from the audience, and review the article below by Orin Kerr, an important scholarly voice in so many Fourth Amendment debates, to help form our opinions about the legal, policy and technical challenges posed by encryption.

https://reason.com/volokh/2016/10/14/the-law-of-encryption-workarou/

https://www.lawfareblog.com/lawfare-podcast-episode-96-james-comey-going-dark

Then, we were asked to identify a point or general assertion by former FBI Director Comey that surprised us, challenged us, or led us to agree or disagree with him, and explain why. In doing so, we used this podcast and Orin Kerr’s article as a platform to address the legal, policy, and technical challenges posed by encryption. Below is my response to this assignment, detailing my thoughts about a point by former FBI Director Comey that I found surprising and interesting, as well as technical and other key challenges posed by encryption. 

comey-podcast