Research

Congressional failure to pass comprehensive federal data privacy legislation means the vast majority of people in the United States lack protection. This inaction has left an opening for state legislatures to enact their own privacy laws, and, as of now, 19 states have some form of comprehensive data privacy laws on the books. However, many of these states’ laws lack critical protections, including preventing discriminatory uses of data. The imperative to protect privacy is great.

Digital safety is a growing concern among experts and lawmakers, and among those surveyed for state digital equity planning efforts. Digital risk impacts everyone who interacts directly with internet-enabled devices as well as those exploited, marginalized, or surveilled by algorithmic and data-dependent systems. My latest research examines the tensions between the goals of:

As more of Americans’ everyday activities move online, the lack of digital identity solutions becomes more of a problem. Countries around the world have forged ahead in offering digital ID, leaving the United States in the dust. There is a better way, one spearheaded by a national initiative to ensure all Americans have access to convenient, accessible, and trustworthy forms of digital ID. This report lays out a path toward achieving that goal. To start, it outlines the benefits of digital ID over physical forms of identification.

In December 2020, the Federal Trade Commission issued 6 Orders to nine of the largest social media and video streaming services—Amazon, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Snap, ByteDance, Discord, Reddit, and WhatsApp. At the time, a bipartisan group of Commissioners issued a joint statement warning that far too much about how these platforms operate is “dangerously opaque,” with critical questions around data collection and algorithms “shrouded in secrecy.” On September 20, the FTC released a groundbreaking report that sheds light on how these powerful companies have operated.

The United Nations Secretary-General’s High-level Advisory Body on AI released a report, Governing AI for Humanity, calling for a new policy dialog on AI so that the UN’s 193 members can discuss risks and agree upon actions. The report asserts that while AI is transforming our world, offering tremendous potential for good, the opportunities it provides may not manifest or be distributed equitably if the technology is left ungoverned.

The lack of broadband in many rural and Tribal communities in the U.S. is widely recognized, but there are also claims of a lack of broadband availability in predominantly minority and urban communities, sometimes labeled digital redlining or digital discrimination. Motivated by such claims, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 includes a provision addressing digital discrimination and directing the Federal Communications Commission to write rules implementing the statutory provision.

Digital sources have become an important part of Americans’ news diets—with social media playing a crucial role, particularly for younger adults. Overall, just over half of U.S. adults (54%) say they at least sometimes get news from social media, up slightly compared with the last few years. Facebook and YouTube outpace all other social media sites as places where Americans regularly get news. About a third of U.S.

This study investigates the relationship between online learning activities for educational, professional, or personal purposes and employment likelihood using the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Usage Survey conducted by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TSI) between 2015 and 2023. Utilizing a nationally representative survey, we analyze (1) online course enrollment and (2) online learning engagement (self-learning and communication-based learning activities) and their relationship with being employed.

The top-tier countries of Net Vitality 3.0 are the United States, South Korea, and the Netherlands. These countries encompass what it means to lead in the current Internet ecosystem. Their Net Vitality Index scores of 24, 24, and 21 represent the top 1 percent of countries evaluated in the Net Vitality 3.0 report. Since the release of Net Vitality 2.0 in 2018, the United States has been the only country to maintain top-tier status.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed a critical lack of digital equity in the United States, particularly in Indian Country. As previous Center for Indian Country Development (CICD) research has shown, before the pandemic households on federally recognized reservations were less likely to have home Internet and faced substantial