In less than a decade, Google has grown from a Ph.D. research project to be the indispensable tool of the information economy. With the objective of making all information instantly and universally accessible, Google now controls the principal index to the internet and the email traffic of millions, while adding new features such as maps replete with street-level photos cataloging the non-virtual world.
How should governments around the world treat this data? Is it a great new resource for national security and law enforcement, or should we protect it from the prying eyes of bureaucrats? Should private companies be reigned in by regulation, or will government action only serve to undermine the modicum of privacy we maintain in the information age?
On January 16th Americas Future Foundation (AFF) will be hosting a roundtable to discuss these and other questions.
The panelists:
- Marc Rotenberg of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
- Amber Taylor of O’Melveny & Myers LLP
- Jim Harper of the Cato Institute
- Cord Blomquist of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (me)
The event will take place at the Fund for American Studies, 1706 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, near Dupont Circle. Drinks at 6:30; Roundtable begins at 7:00. Roundtables are free for AFF members, $5 for non-members. So join today! Please RSVP to Cindy Cerquitella at cindy@americasfuture.org.
Hopefully we’ll see some TLF fanboys at the event!
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.