UC Berkeley course: "Coding for Policy and Regulating Design"

We are pleased to announce a new course this semester: "Coding for Policy and Regulating Design." We invite TRUST student researchers to participate.

The course, led by Deirdre Mulligan, is intended to acquaint Berkeley graduate students with literature from a range of disciplines that considers whether, when and how to embed policy in technical systems. The course will draw on theoretical literature about embodying values in technology design, consider the various entry points available for influencing technological design in the direction of policy or social values, and through case studies identify and imagine mechanisms for determining when technology should be viewed as "policy-making" and how various actors -- technologists, policymakers, end-users -- can participate in decisions about what policies the technology enables.

The course welcomes students with a variety of backgrounds, including technical computer science and engineering students, and law and social science students interested in understanding the opportunities and challenges present in embedding policy in technical systems.

290-20 Coding for policy and regulating design

[The official meeting time is weekly Monday 4-5p but we will instead meet from Monday 4-6p every other week.]

CCN: 42710
1-2 units (2 credits with project or paper TBD)
Room 205 South Hall
If you need a CEC to add the class, contact Joe Hall.

Trust Students to speak at negative option FTC Meeting

Professor Deirdre Mulligan's Ph.D. students Jens Grossklags and Nathan Good will be speaking at the Federal Trade Commission workshop in late January on "Analyzing Negative Option Marketing". For further details, see the FTC Negative Option website.

iCAST/TRUST Conference Held

The The International Collaboration for Advancing Security Technology (iCAST)/Trust conference was held in Taiwan January 8 - 10, 2007. The conference website includes PDFs of the presentations.

Vern Paxson is now an ACM Fellow

Trust member Vern Paxson is now an ACM Fellow. He was cited "For contributions to Internet measurement and intrusion detection."

The logic of privacy

The Economist's article, "The logic of privacy" discusses the work of John Mitchell, Adam Barth and Anupam Datta, where they are using a philosophical theory called contextual integrity to help explain when individuals feel uncomfortable with their privacy. Contextual integrity is a theory developed by Helen Nissenbaum of New York University. The article states:

"This theory acknowledges that people do not require complete privacy. They will happily share information with others as long as certain social norms are met."

Beyond a Physical Conception of the Fourth Amendment: Search and Seizure in the Digital Age

January 26th, 2007
http://stlr.stanford.edu/symposium.html
Stanford Law School

Technological change increasingly complicates criminal investigation: third-party Internet service providers, not individuals, store sensitive user information such as e-mail, while global positioning satellites allow the government to track private
citizens' movements and thermal imaging technology permits law enforcement to monitor activity inside the home. Recent high-profile legal cases have involved government
requests for user identification and content from technological giants such as Apple and Google, bypassing the users themselves. These issues are exemplified by the current political controversy over NSA surveillance and the need for judicial oversight. In short, a physical conception of privacy may no longer be adequate when technology allows the tracking of new kinds of personal information that is accessible in entirely new ways.

Current scholarship continues to play an essential role in expanding the legal thinking on the 4th Amendment in ways that can keep pace with this dizzying technological progress. The Stanford Center for Internet and Society, Stanford Criminal Justice Center and Stanford Technology Law Review have invited scholars and practitioners from around the country to participate in a Symposium this January on
the future of the 4th Amendment in this digital age.

Hear what the experts have to say, and let them know your opinions, through our symposium: Beyond a Physical Conception of the Fourth Amendment: Search and Seizure in the Digital Age. Top technology and privacy experts from across the country will argue about the Internet, criminal procedure, RFID, and the Constitution.

Best of all, you can participate! Five authors' drafts will appear on the symposium website for commenting before (and after) the live event. Read, respond, and be heard in the live discussion!

SUPERB TRUST: June-August, 2006

The Team for Research in Ubiquitous Secure Technology (TRUST) will sponsor eight undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds and cultures, to participate in the Summer Undergraduate Program in Engineering Research at Berkeley during the summer of 2007 (SUPERB-IT).

These students will be working with graduate student mentors throughout the summer performing research and supporting activities in the area of information technology and TRUST related topics.

An example of past TRUST research topics have included:
- Design of a Distributed Tracking System for Camera Networks
- Camera Networks and Computer Vision
- Time Synchronization Security in Sensor Networks
- Implementation of an Electronic Medical Record System
- Analysis of Wireless Connectivity in Sensor Network Deployments

This is an excellent opportunity for students to conduct research directly with our faculty in an eight-week program. Our program is made possible by the generous support of the National Science Foundation, and UC Berkeley's College of Engineering.

For details, see the TRUST SUPERB Website

Information for EECS applicants for SUPERB-IT:
Elisa Lewis, SUPERB Program Coordinator
SUPERB-Information Technology
(510) 642-7372 (tel)
(510) 643-7846 (fax)
elisa at eecs berkeley edu

Contact Information for SUPERB TRUST:
Dr. Kristen Gates
Executive Director of Education,
Team for Research in Ubiquitous Secure Technologies (TRUST)
University of California, Berkeley
(510) 642-3737
kgates at eecs berkeley edu