Georgetown Law
Technology Review

On September 18, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it would begin collecting information on the social media accounts of all immigrants entering the United States in an attempt to screen out those with terrorist ties. In a notice in the Federal Register, DHS stated that it would collect “social media handles, aliases, associated […]

For decades, web-based companies have had free rein to track their users’ activity online and sell the information they gather to third parties. That era may be ending soon. Apple and Google recently announced plans to incorporate new privacy software into their web browsers, which will severely limit the data web-based companies will be able […]

Robert Williams was a twenty-five-year-old assembly line worker at a Ford Motor plant when he died in 1979. Robert was collecting parts when a robot’s arm struck him and killed him instantly as it also attempted to gather parts. This is the first ever recorded death of a human due to the actions of a […]

On August 1, 2017, Senator Rob Portman introduced S. 1693—Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA). The bill, which places liability on websites that “knowingly facilitate” sex trafficking, has some in Silicon Valley concerned over the effect on free speech on the Internet. SESTA amends the Communications Decency Act (CDA), a twenty-one-year-old law that protects online […]

Earlier last month, Apple introduced a new feature in its flagship phones, a jump forward in biometric security that it calls “Face ID”.. Instead of a numeric code or fingerprint, iPhone owners can use their face to unlock their phone for use. Although Apple has touted this technology as a step towards the future, facial […]

“If you have a credit report, there’s a good chance that you’re one of the 143 million American consumers whose sensitive personal information was exposed in a data breach at Equifax.” On September 14, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it will be investigating the Equifax data breach. The FTC is empowered, through the […]

Inter Partes Review (IPR) has become a vital procedure in the patent system since the adoption of the America Invents Act (AIA). As of March 31, 2017, there have been 4,563 IPR petitions initiated. In the final quarter of 2016, thirty-six percent of defendants in patent infringement litigations filed IPR petitions before the U.S. Patent […]

In a spectacular blow to data privacy, Equifax announced on September 7 that hackers had breached their database, exposing the sensitive personal information of 143 million people over the course of nearly two months. Even more troubling, Equifax purportedly learned about the breach in late July, waiting over a month to notify consumers of the […]

On October 3, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Gill v. Whitford, a case that demonstrates both the promises and pitfalls that arise when modern technology meets election law. On appeal is a 2016 decision by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, in which a three-judge panel found that […]

Hundreds of drones took to the sky to assist with disaster-relief efforts following Hurricane Harvey. They were used to help find missing relatives, monitor levees for potential flooding, and assess and map the damage to different areas across Texas. In some ways, these events have acted as a testing ground for the use of this […]