Christopher Hoofnagle

Equifax continues to scramble after massive breach

Christopher Hoofnagle interviewed by NPR, Sept. 28, 2017

“You might sign up because it’s free and it sounds like a good idea to protect yourself against identity theft. But if you read the fine print, you’ll see that it gives these companies the ability to sell your personal information to anyone they want.”

Twitter, Facebook users name and shame white nationalists in Charlottesville rally

Christopher Hoofnagle quoted by The Mercury News, Aug. 14, 2017

“We have very strong protections for our speech and a right to assembly against our government, but virtually no protection against private retaliation for free speech,” he said. … “This is all about private censorship and shame,” Hoofnagle said. “If you’re willing to accept it as OK, then think about what this would mean if this were done to you.”

Congress is about to give away your online privacy

Christopher Hoofnagle co-writes for Wired, March 22, 2017

Congress is poised to roll back FCC privacy protections in a way that could seriously compromise our online lives. The protections require internet service providers to secure consumer data and obtain consumers’ consent before mining and selling it.

Experts criticize US electronic devices ban on some flights from Middle East

Paul Schwartz and Christopher Hoofnagle quoted by The Guardian, March 21, 2017

Paul Schwartz … noted that the 9/11 hijackers had a cell in Hamburg, Germany. “One potential problem with this approach where you single out countries is that you ignore the extent to which the terrorist threat is kind of state-less,” he said. “The terrorists have cells throughout the entire world.”

Efforts to more broadly restrict laptops on planes would likely face widespread resistance, said Chris Hoofnagle. …. “It’s a massive inconvenience to have to check a laptop, and you can imagine that such a demand is met with resistance by air carriers, who are powerful lobbies.”

Trump stirs apolitical Silicon Valley

Christopher Hoofnagle quoted by Christian Science Monitor, Jan. 19, 2017

When asked by Passcode, UC Berkeley law professor and PCAP member Chris Hoofnagle says the council is still active and meets four times a year. “The Palantir people are devoted and hardworking, and they care about civil liberties,” Hoofnagle wrote in an email. “My experience has been rewarding.”

The digital age has destroyed the concept of ownership, and companies are taking advantage of it

Christopher Hoofnagle and Aaron Perzanowki ‘06 paper cited by Quartz, Sept. 28, 2016

When Perzanowski and Hoofnagle’s tested a version of the Media Shop that replaced the “Buy now” button with a “License now” button study participants more accurately understood their rights. Additionally, about half of all shoppers were willing to pay more to acquire a digital copy that explicitly came with traditional ownership rights, such as the right to resell.

Spyware firm tied to iPhone hack has U.S. ties

Chris Hoofnagle quoted by USA Today, August 26, 2016

“We are at this place because of law enforcement frustration with access to data in investigations. And so we are going to continue to see law enforcement agencies, even from legitimate democratic states, buying ‘hacking tools’ so that crimes that occur within their own borders can be investigated,” said Chris Hoofnagle.

You’re being tracked (and tracked and tracked) on the web

Christopher Hoofnagle quoted by IEEE Spectrum, August 23, 2016

“It’s not so much that I would invest a lot of confidence in the idea that there were X number of trackers on any given site,” Hoofnagle says of the University of Washington team’s results. “Rather, it’s the trend that’s important.”