2017 Cato Surveillance Conference

From front-page news stories featuring transcripts of wiretapped campaign officials to dramatic cyberattacks using hacking tools stolen from the National Security Agency, intelligence and surveillance issues have saturated the news in 2017. Yet there were also plenty of important surveillance stories that didn’t get the exposure they deserved: the ongoing debate over reauthorizing the NSA’s controversial section 702 spying authority, set to expire at year’s end; the Supreme Court’s pending consideration of Carpenter v. United States, which could radically alter the contours of Fourth Amendment law; law enforcement’s growing reliance on sophisticated data mining to attempt to identify criminals or terrorists before they act. The Cato Institute’s annual surveillance conference will gather prominent experts, policymakers, technologists, and civil society advocates to explore these issues and more—and debate how much monitoring we should accept in a society that aspires to be both safe and free.

Schedule 

9:00 - 9:05AM
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION 

Julian Sanchez, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute

9:05 - 9:20AM
OPENING REMARKS 

Ted Lieu, D-California

9:20 - 10:35AM
PANEL – Carpenter v. U.S. and the Future of the Third Party Doctrine

Moderator: Damon Root, Reason
Michelle Richardson, Center for Democracy and Technology
Jim Harper, Competitive Enterprise Institute
Jake Laperruque, Constitution Center
Dan Schweitzer, National Association of Attorneys General

10:35 - 10:50AM
MORNING BREAK

10:50 - 11:50AM
FLASH TALKS 

Surveillance Fears and Supply Chain Regulation
Mieke Eoyang, Third Way

Countering Secret Surveillance Through FOIA Collaboration
Jesse Franzblau

Checkpoint: America—Security Theater for Motorists
Patrick Eddington, Cato Institute

12:00 - 1:00PM
LUNCH KEYNOTE – The FBI and “Black Identity Extremists” 

Justin Hanford, Howard University

1:10 - 2:25PM
PANEL – Predictive Policing: Big Data and Law Enforcement 

Moderator: Justin Jouvenel, Washignton Post
Margaret Hu, Washington and Lee University
Andrew Ferguson, University of the District of Columbia
Courtney Bowman, Palantir

2:25 - 3:25PM

FLASH TALKS

Parallel Construction: Can the Bill of Rights Survive It?
Sarah St. Vincent, Human Rights Watch

The Perpetual Lineup: Unregulated Police Face Recognition
Clare Garvie, Georgetown Law

A Digital Muslim Ban
Rachel Levinson-Waldman, Brennan Center
lvaro Bedoya, Georgetown Law

3:25 - 3:40PM
AFTERNOON BREAK

3:40 - 4:55PM
PANEL – Surveillance Self Defense: Technologies and Strategies for Privacy

Moderator: Michelle de Mooy, Center for Democracy & Technology
Steve Bell, Orchid Labs
Griffin Boyce, Harvard Berkman-Klein Center

4:55 - 5:25PM
CLOSING REMARKS

5:30PM
RECEPTION