Episode #31 - Hartzog on Robocops and Automated Law Enforcement

In this episode I am joined by Woodrow Hartzog. Woodrow is currently a Professor of Law and Computer Science at Northeastern University (he was the Starnes Professor at Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law when this episode was recorded). His research focuses on privacy, human-computer interaction, online communication, and electronic agreements. He holds a Ph.D. in mass communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an LL.M. in intellectual property from the George Washington University Law School, and a J.D. from Samford University. He previously worked as an attorney in private practice and as a trademark attorney for the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He also served as a clerk for the Electronic Privacy Information Center. We talk about the rise of automated law enforcement and the virtue of an inefficient legal system. You can download the episode here or listen below. You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or Stitcher (RSS feed is here). Show Notes0:00 - Introduction2:00 - What is automated law enforcement? The 3 Steps6:30 - What about the robocops?10:00 - The importance of hidden forms of automated law enforcement12:55 - What areas of law enforcement are ripe for automation?17:53 - The ethics of automated prevention vs automated punishment23: 10 - The three reasons for automated law enforcement26:00 - The privacy costs of automated law enforcement32:13 - The virtue of discretion and inefficiency in the application of law40:10 - An empirical study of automated law enforcement44:35 - The conservation of inefficiency principle48:40 - The practicality of conserving inefficiency51:20 - Should we keep a human in the loop?55:10 - The rules vs standards debate in automated law enforcement58:36 - Can we engineer inefficiency into automated systems1:01:10 - When is automation desirable in law?  Relevant LinksWoody's homepageWoody's SSRN page'Inefficiently Automated Law Enforcement' by Woodrow Hartzog, Gregory Conti, John Nelson and Lisa Shay'Obscurity and Privacy' by Woodrow Hartzog and Evan SelingerEpisode 4 with Evan Selinger on Algorithmic Outsourcing and PrivacyKnightscope RobotsRobocop joins Dubai police to fight real life crime    #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ Subscribe to the newsletter