This event is by invitation only and closed to the public.
Lying at the core of sovereign power are government functions that ensure public safety and national defense: law-enforcement investigations, foreign-intelligence collection, and other forms of surveillance and data collection. But the nature and scope of these activities are not determined by government alone, and are increasingly in tension with the legal, technical, and business considerations of digital communications companies. Digital-communications firms like Apple, Facebook, Alphabet (Google), Microsoft, Verizon, and Amazon both augment and constrain government power—sometimes by partnering and cooperating with federal, state, and local authorities, and other times by challenging the government through litigation, political pressure, and technological change. In turn, the difficulties that governments face in adapting to the digital world have caused them to subject technology companies to a challenging regulatory environment, with often-conflicting legal obligations at both the international and domestic levels.
The Hoover Institution’s National Security, Technology, and Law Working Group's conference on Technology Giants, Sovereign Power, and Surveillance will bring together members of the academy, private industry, civil society, and government to address the emerging implications of these dynamics for a wide range of legal and policy issues—from cybersecurity and technological innovation to democratic accountability and the public-private divide.
wednesDAY, july 26
| Time | Content | presenters |
|---|---|---|
|
8:00 AM |
Continental Breakfast |
-- |
|
8:15 AM |
Welcoming Remarks Participant Introductions |
-- |
|
8:30-9:45 AM |
SESSION 1 Surveillance Intermediaries |
Jon Michaels, UCLA School of Law Alan Rozenshtein, University of Minnesota |
|
9:45 AM |
Coffee break |
-- |
|
10:00-11:15 AM |
SESSION 2 Internet Platforms, Terrorism, and Speech Peace with Honor in the Transatlantic Surveillance Debate |
Danielle Keats Citron, University of Maryland; Benjamin Wittes, Brookings Institution Daphne Keller, Stanford Center for Internet and Society Adam Klein, Center for a New American Security |
|
11:15 AM |
Coffee and snack break |
-- |
|
11:30-12:45 PM |
SESSION 3 Surveillance, Sovereignty, and Conflicts |
John Carlin, Morrison Foerster Andrew Woods, University of Kentucky College of Law |
|
12:45 PM |
Lunch served |
-- |
|
1:00-2:15 PM |
SESSION 4, LUNCH DISCUSSION Perspectives of Chinese ‘Surveillance Intermediaries’ |
Mieke Eoyang, Third Way Samm Sacks, Center for Strategic and International Studies |
|
2:15 PM |
Coffee break |
-- |
|
2:30-3:45 PM |
SESSION 5 User Rights in a Global System? |
Peter Swire, Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business Lee Tien, Electronic Frontier Foundation |
|
3:45 PM |
Coffee and snack break |
-- |
|
4:00-5:15 PM |
SESSION 6 Government Hacking: From Data Gatekeepers to Security Gatekeepers |
Anne Boustead, Belfer Center, Harvard Kennedy School Scarlet Kim, Privacy International |
|
5:15-5:45 PM |
Concluding discussion |
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