In the News

Reining in the National Security Agency, keeping laws and civil rights protections up to date with the digital era, and the tension between national security and personal privacy were among the topics of a panel discussion held this morning at the University of Washington School of Law.

U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Medina; Brad Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel; and Gabe Rottman, national office legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, participated in the panel moderated by UW Law Professor William Covington.

The discussion began with a question about what the panelists think are the current challenges regarding privacy rights.

Smith said the tension between national security and personal privacy is something the U.S. has grappled with at various points in its history, including when President Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War and when President Franklin Roosevelt interned Japanese Americans during World War II.

But what’s different now, Smith said, is that the war on terror feels more permanent and, because of that, “we have to come to terms with a longer lasting approach.”

What’s also different, he said, is that people have more information about themselves stored in other places than ever before.

DelBene talked about how the laws regarding privacy rights are “out of date with technology.”

For instance, DelBene, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, noted that the Electronic Communications Privacy Act did not hold digital information stored in the cloud to the same warrant standard as a piece of paper sitting in a person’s desk drawer.

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