CrySP Speaker Series on Privacy - Fantastically Bad Laws and Where to Find Them

Encryption is legal in the Five Eyes countries, thanks to our victory in what’s come to be known as the Crypto Wars of the 1990s. Computer security research is increasingly viewed as a boon rather than a scourge. But time is a circle and once again, law enforcement and policy makers around the world are calling for all that to change. In this presentation, I will discuss in brief the history of the first Crypto Wars, and the state of the law in 2018. With San Bernardino as our background I will outline current proposals to weaken or ban encryption, covering proposed and recently enacted laws in New York, California, Australia, India, China, and the UK. I'll also touch on the various attempts around the world to both facilitate and hamper the activities of researchers... such as yourselves.

Nate Cardozo is a Senior Staff Attorney on EFF’s civil liberties team where he focuses on cybersecurity policy and defending coders’ rights.

Nate has litigated cases involving electronic surveillance, freedom of information, digital anonymity, online free expression, and government hacking. His other projects include defending encryption, fighting software export controls, preserving automotive privacy, and assisting surveillance law reform efforts. As an expert in technology law and civil liberties, Nate works on EFF’s Who Has Your Back report and regularly assists companies in crafting rights-preserving policies and advising on compliance with legal process.

A 2009-2010 EFF Open Government Legal Fellow, Nate spent two years in private practice before returning to his senses and to EFF in 2012. When he’s not brewing beer with his EFF colleagues, Nate serves on the boards of directors of the First Amendment Coalition and the South Asian Film Preservation Society. Nate has a B.A. in Anthropology and Politics from U.C. Santa Cruz and a J.D. from U.C. Hastings where he has taught first-year legal writing and moot court.