Caveat
238 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 days ago - ★★★★★ - 83 ratingsJoin us for thought provoking conversations on surveillance, digital privacy, and cybersecurity law and policy in the information age. Each week, hosts Dave Bittner and Ben Yelin break down the headlines, legal cases, and policy battles that matter most.
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Episodes
Private companies are not subject to the First Amendment.
June 16, 2021 05:00 - 45 minutesGuest Robert Nelon a partner at the national law firm Hall Estill joins Dave to discuss Facebook’s decision to uphold their ban on former president Trump’s account, Ben reviews the Supreme Court’s decision on the Van Buren Case. Dave's got the story of a US state pushing Google to be classified as a public utility. Programming note: Dave and Ben recorded in studio! While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal ...
Data privacy laws are failing.
June 09, 2021 04:00 - 44 minutesBen looks at new legislation restricting police use of DNA, Dave's got the story of the proposed algorithm transparency bill, and later in the show our conversation with Rita Garry from Robbins, Salomon & Patt on how data privacy laws are failing US consumers and businesses. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of the topics we cover, please contact your attorney. Links to stories: Two...
The normalization of data leaks.
June 02, 2021 05:00 - 46 minutesGuest Chris Strand of IntSights joins Dave to talk about whether the "Normalization of Data Leaks" drives further need for federal data privacy regulation to combat complacency, Ben takes a look new legislation in Florida that would punish social media companies that suspend political candidates, Dave shares a story about Chicago’s predictive policing program. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advic...
To pay or not to pay? Ransomware negotiation.
May 26, 2021 05:00 - 39 minutesGuest Leeann Nicolo is a ransomware negotiation expert from Coalition who joins Dave to discuss how they determine to pay out a ransomware gang, Ben takes a look at President Biden’s executive order on cyber security, Dave shares a story that has news of a bipartisan bill that would ban warrantless location data purchases. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of the topics we cover, pleas...
Many do not trust their banks and banking apps.
May 19, 2021 05:00 - 40 minutesGuest Marijus Briedis joins us from NordVPN to discuss their 2021 Online Banking Privacy Trends survey, Ben discusses a key Appeals Court case on cell site location information tracking, Dave takes a look at the Biden administration’s broadband proposals and why it’s giving cable companies heartburn. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of the topics we cover, please contact your attorney...
Privacy sector shift under the Biden administration.
May 12, 2021 05:00 - 49 minutesOur guest Caitlin Fennessy from International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) joins Dave to discuss the shift in the privacy sector under the Biden administration, Ben shares he has been following the trial between Apple and Epic Games, Dave's got the story of a ruling that says SnapChat can be sued for their role in a fatal car crash, and Listener on the Line comes from Kevin about stolen encrypted data. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expresse...
Privacy as a competitive advantage.
May 05, 2021 05:00 - 45 minutesOur guest Erez Yalon, senior director of security research at Checkmarx joins Dave to discuss Apple’s App Tracking Transparency policy, Ben describes how the FBI has been found violating some privacy laws, Dave has the story of Apple being sued over access to movies you buy online, and our Listener on the Line is Jonathan sharing updates on the ParkMobile breach and asking how companies be held to account for the loss of "basic data" when the harms that result can't be directly linked to the ...
Cyber insurance: still a work in progress.
April 28, 2021 05:00 - 42 minutesOur guests this week are Paul Moura and David Navetta from Cooley who share their thoughts on the importance of cyber insurance with Dave, Ben has the story of a lawsuit from some WeChat users, and Dave wonders if the FTC is cracking down on AI. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of the topics we cover, please contact your attorney. Links to stories: California lawsuit against Chinese...
Impacts of the U.S.'s digital divide.
April 21, 2021 05:00 - 45 minutesGrant Hosford, CEO of codeSpark on the impacts of U.S.'s digital divide, and what he believes local governments should do to ensure students have the tools they need to succeed in an increasingly online world, Ben has the story of the FBI reaching out and securing servers running unpatched versions of Microsoft Exchange, Dave shares how the 1st Circuit Court has upheld citizen’s right to secretly record police. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do n...
Breaches are a near certainty.
April 14, 2021 05:00 - 43 minutesGuest Dean Gonsowski of ActiveNav joins Dave to discuss data privacy legislation and data governance, Ben explains a Supreme Court Justice’s take on Section 230, and Dave's got the story from Wired that wonders about the online curation of our memories. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of the topics we cover, please contact your attorney. Links to stories: Clarence Thomas blasts Sec...
Regulation of the Internet is evolving.
April 07, 2021 05:00 - 43 minutesGuest Konstantinos Komaitis from the nonprofit Internet Society joins Dave to discuss the unintended consequences of uninformed online regulatory policies, Ben describes a class-action suit against Google alleging the sale of personal data, and Dave's got the story of a prison surveillance company keeping tabs on people outside the prison walls. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of the...
HITECH Act: Pushing the healthcare industry toward electronic medical records.
March 31, 2021 05:00 - 53 minutesGuest is Donna Grindle CEO at Kardon and cohost of the Help Me with HIPAA podcast joins us with an update to the HITECH Act, Ben takes a closer look at video surveillance and privacy issues being argued in front of the First Circuit Court, and Dave looks at Facebook’s spotty record when it comes to reigning in their algorithms. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of the topics we cover, ...
Virginia privacy law and what it means for you.
March 24, 2021 05:00 - 43 minutesGuest is Heather Federman of BigID on the impact of Virginia's new Consumer Data Protection Act, Ben's story looks at potential reactions from the Biden White House to the SolarWinds hack, Dave's story shares the growing momentum behind a Google antitrust suit, and our Listener on the Line from the UK has some questions on the Instagram having the right to offer image embedding to other sites and if the copyright claim is relinquished once uploaded. While this show covers legal topics, and Be...
Amazon Marketplace: You've got to be there.
March 17, 2021 05:00 - 51 minutesGuest is author Jason Boyce on his book, "The Amazon Jungle," Ben Looks at cell phone data gathered during the January 6th Capitol riot. Dave has statements from Senator Ron Wyden to an online advertising trade association. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of the topics we cover, please contact your attorney. Links to stories: FBI seems confident in the granularity of their Capitol ...
Unregulated IoT devices: What could go wrong?
March 10, 2021 06:00 - 38 minutesGuest Bob Ackerman from Allegis Cyber talks about the potential effect of Federal regulation on the IoT security space, Ben looks at Virginia’s new privacy legislation, and Dave digs into a study on engagement with far left and far right content on Facebook. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of the topics we cover, please contact your attorney. Links to stories: Virginia governor si...
Microtargeting as information warfare.
March 03, 2021 05:00 - 40 minutesGuest Major Jess Dawson from Army Cyber Institute joins Dave to talk about microtargeting as information warfare, Ben's story looks at efforts to keep the government from tracking your location, and Dave has the story that wonders if gathering congress’ cell phone records is constitutional. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of the topics we cover, please contact your attorney. Links t...
Internet of Bodies (IoB) devices: technology is advancing much quicker than regulations can.
February 24, 2021 06:00 - 31 minutesGuest Mary Lee from the Rand Corporation joins Dave to discuss the Internet of Bodies (IoB): Opportunities, Risks and Governance, Ben looks at a state tax on social media advertising, and Dave's got the story of members of congress working with the Biden administration on Section 230 reforms. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of the topics we cover, please contact your attorney. Links...
Privacy has become almost a fundamental right.
February 17, 2021 06:00 - 37 minutesGuest Ameesh Divatia from Baffle joins Dave to discuss whether it’s time for a national privacy referendum, Ben looks at a plan congressional democrats are cooking up for section 230 of the communications decency act. and Dave has the story of a clever technique police officers are using to prevent being live streamed. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of the topics we cover, please co...
Covid's effects on medical privacy.
February 10, 2021 06:00 - 39 minutesWe have guest Jenna Waters from True Digital Security looking back at the last year of Covid and how that’s affected privacy, particularly in the medical field, Ben looks at a tool that can help determine if your image is part of a facial recognition library, and Dave has the story of law enforcement dodging public records rules through the use of encrypted messaging apps. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For officia...
The new US Administration should focus on these data privacy points.
February 03, 2021 06:00 - 41 minutesWe have guest Sophie Chase-Borthwick of Calligo joining us to discuss "The Top 3 Data Privacy Points the New U.S. Administration Must Focus On," Ben examines the ongoing online hunt for Capitol rioters, and Dave looks at the challenge of upholding free speech in the age of online digital platforms. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of the topics we cover, please contact your attorney....
The intersection of law, technology and risk.
January 27, 2021 06:00 - 43 minutesOn this week’s show Dave speaks with guest Andrew Burt from the Yale Information Society Project (ISP) on Digital Future Whitepaper Series first whitepaper, "Nowhere to Hide: Data, Cyberspace, and the Dangers of the Digital World," Ben looks at the shift to more secure messaging apps in the fallout of Parler going offline, and Dave has the story of the FTC cracking down on misuse of facial recognition software. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do ...
The attempted insurrection, Congressional cybersecurity, and data ethics.
January 20, 2021 06:00 - 46 minutesOn this week’s show Dave speaks with guest Dr. Dennis Hirsch from the Ohio State University's Risk Institute on his research on data ethics, and we unpack the aftermath of the riot and attack on the US Capitol, and the security and privacy issues that have arisen as a result. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of the topics we cover, please contact your attorney. Links to stories: The...
Diversity has to be part of the mission in cybersecurity.
January 13, 2021 06:00 - 44 minutesOn this week’s show, we've got Dave's conversation with David Forscey with the Aspen Institute on their new Cybersecurity Collaborative Network, Ben shares why we were late getting started recording Caveat for 2021, Ben's story covers the ongoing issues with facial recognition software, and Dave has the story of California upholding restrictions on Stingrays. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice...
Encore: Dressing for privacy.
January 06, 2021 06:00 - 38 minutesBen shares a story about dressing for privacy, Dave has the tale of location data putting an innocent man at the scene of a crime, and later in the show our interview with Admiral James Stavridis. He is the former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of the topics we cover, please contact your attorney. Links to stories: Dressing for the Surveillance Ag...
Encore: EU-US Privacy Shield invalidated.
December 30, 2020 06:01 - 46 minutesDave has a story about police foundations buying hacking tools for local law enforcement, Ben looks at California’s prop-24 fight over the future of privacy, Dave takes a look at the conclusions of a House report that many of tech’s biggest firms are enjoying unfair monopoly power, and later in the show our conversation with Travis Leblanc from Cooley on the European court Invalidating the EU-US Privacy Shield. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do n...
Interim cybersecurity compliance rule prior to CMMC with some privacy thrown in.
December 23, 2020 06:00 - 44 minutesBen covers a privacy story of California dealing with Uber, Dave's got the story of the FTC demanding information from social media companies, Listener on the Line Mitch has a throwback to an older episode's use of "weasel words," and later in the show, Dave's conversation with Michelle Litteken from Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP on an unexpected cybersecurity compliance rule that is forcing government contractors to act quickly. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the v...
We don't know what we need, until we do with facial recognition.
December 16, 2020 06:00 - 50 minutesBen looks at potential antitrust suits against Facebook, Dave looks at anti-hate speech laws in Germany that are serving as models for authoritarians around the world, our international LOTL asks about what the privacy of instant messaging platforms looks like in the US, and later in the show, Dave's conversation with Jennifer Strong, host of the new MIT Technology Review podcast, "In Machines We Trust." While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not cons...
A pandemic is a perfect environment for disinformation to thrive.
December 09, 2020 06:00 - 46 minutesBen looks at the US Supreme Court’s potential interpretations of the computer fraud and abuse act, Dave's got a report out of the UK on AI algorithm oversight, and later in the show, Dave's conversation with Nina Jankowicz, Disinformation Fellow from the Wilson Center on her book: How to Lose the Information War: Russia, Fake News, and the Future of Conflict. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice...
Defining digital sovereignty: there's no such place as cyberspace.
December 02, 2020 06:00 - 50 minutesBen has the story of Amazon allegedly spying on warehouse workers, Dave has an overview of how cyber policy may play out in a Biden Administration, and later in the show Dave's conversation with Robert Carolina. He is general counsel for the Internet Systems Consortium, and a senior visiting fellow in the Information Security Group at the University of London. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advi...
Protecting the integrity of information and maintaining privacy.
November 25, 2020 06:00 - 39 minutesBen has an update on Baltimore’s spy plane, Dave wonders about the tension between free speech, disinformation and public health, and later in the show Dave's conversation with Laura Noren, NYU Visiting Professor of Data Science and VP of Privacy & Trust at Obsidian Security on who governs the cloud and what data protection regulations are actually enforceable. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advi...
Playing into the hands of our adversaries.
November 18, 2020 06:00 - 38 minutesBen looks facial recognition technology being used on protesters, Dave's got the story of ICE and DHS buying up moment-by-moment mobile device location data, and later in the show Dave's conversation with Jamil Jaffer from IronNet Security. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of the topics we cover, please contact your attorney. Links to stories: Facial recognition used to identify Laf...
Elizabeth Wharton: Strong shoulders for someone else to stand on. [Legal] [Career Notes]
November 11, 2020 06:00 - 7 minutesAs we are not publishing in observance of Veterans Day, we thought you might like to check out an episode of our weekly Career Notes short form podcast that comes out on Sundays. Check it out and subscribe today! Technology attorney and startup chief of staff Elizabeth Wharton shares her experiences and how she came to work with companies in technology. Elizabeth talks about how she always liked solving problems and Nancy Drew mysteries, but not litigation. These morphed finding into her hom...
IoT device risk: can legislation keep up?
November 04, 2020 06:00 - 45 minutesDave wonders if Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg isn’t asking congress to throw him in the briar patch. Ben looks at the massive amount of data politicians gather on voters, our Listener on the Line came about when Dave was chatting with his pal Jason DeFillippo on Grumpy Old Geeks about facial recognition software, and later in the show, Dave has a conversation with Curtis Simpson, CISO at Armis, he shares his thoughts on some recent IoT legislative updates. While this show covers legal topics, an...
The Malware Mash!
October 30, 2020 05:00 - 3 minutesLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The tools have changed, but the tactics have remained basically the same.
October 28, 2020 05:00 - 45 minutesDave a story about the US Department of Justice bringing antitrust charges against Google, Ben looks at the increased use of phone cracking tools by law enforcement, and later in the show, Dave talks with Morgan Wright, chief security advisor at SentinelOne, former Senior Law Enforcement Advisor for the 2012 Republican National Convention and Senior Advisor in the US State Department Antiterrorism Assistance Program. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expresse...
No fruit of the poisonous tree.
October 21, 2020 05:00 - 48 minutesBen looks at a case involving mobile device passwords and Miranda rights, Dave has a story about warrants for Google keyword searches. and later in the show Ben speaks with Ben Wright, Professor at SANS Institute on setting performance standards for security and associated liabilities. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of the topics we cover, please contact your attorney. Links to sto...
EU-US Privacy Shield invalidated.
October 14, 2020 05:00 - 48 minutesDave has a story about police foundations buying hacking tools for local law enforcement, Ben looks at California’s prop-24 fight over the future of privacy, Dave takes a look at the conclusions of a House report that many of tech’s biggest firms are enjoying unfair monopoly power, and later in the show our conversation with Travis Leblanc from Cooley on the European court Invalidating the EU-US Privacy Shield. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do n...
U.S. COVID-19 research efforts at risk.
October 07, 2020 05:00 - 38 minutesDave has a story about police foundations buying hacking tools for local law enforcement, Ben describes a judge’s reaction to the Trump administration's attempt to ban the TikTok app, and later in the show our conversation with Aaron Brantly, cybersecurity expert from Virginia Tech on cyber criminals putting U.S. COVID-19 research efforts at risk. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of t...
Generating more data with value we don't understand.
September 30, 2020 05:00 - 42 minutesDave has a story about websites tracking you every online move, Ben describes concerns over allegations that Homeland Security was tapping protester’s phone lines in Portland, and later in the show our conversation with Andrew Burt, visiting fellow at Yale Law’s information society project, former FBI policy advisor, and chief legal officer at Immuta on Google Geofencing. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official...
Technology that allows cops to track your phone.
September 23, 2020 05:00 - 50 minutesDave has an update on Baltimore’s spyplane, Ben describes concerns over violations by the FBI, CIA, NSA of FISA court rules, and later in the show our conversation with Kim Zetter on her recent article in The Intercept, titled “How Cops Can Secretly Track Your Phone.” It’s all about stingrays and dirtboxes, so stick around for that. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of the topics we co...
Your own data used against you.
September 16, 2020 05:00 - 42 minutesDave's has the story of adult websites and their reaction to deepfakes, Ben describes a ruling from the 9nth circuit court that has 4th amendment implications, and later in the show our conversation with Scott Giordano, VP and Sr. Counsel, Privacy and Compliance at Spirion on the surprising ways your data can be used against you, and how you can protect yourself and those who matter most. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal adv...
Privacy: once you give it away, it’s very hard to get back.
September 09, 2020 05:00 - 39 minutesDave looks at one state’s plan to provide internet to rural students, Ben describes a controversial move by California lawmakers to implement immunity passports, and later in the show our conversation with Matt Lewis and Jennifer Fernick, researchers for the NCC Group on 'Smart' Cities: Weighing the Benefits Against the Dangers. Links to stories: California: Tell Your Senators That Ill-Conceived “Immunity Passports” Won’t Help Us Maryland has a plan to beam internet to rural students. But off...
Understanding the right technical assistance model for your organization.
September 02, 2020 05:00 - 47 minutesDave reviews an essay from top US officials on persistent engagement as US cyber doctrine, Ben describes the potential implications of a ruling on geofencing, and later in the show our conversation with Sean Brooks, Director of the Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity’s Citizen Clinic program on his recent report, "Digital Safety Technical Assistance at Scale." While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice...
CCPA impact on businesses.
August 26, 2020 05:00 - 41 minutesDave describes how California is providing data - a lot of data - the private investigators, Ben explains how Miami police were using facial recognition software to identify protesters, and later in the show our conversation with Stephen Cavey, Ground Labs’ Co-Founder and Chief Evangelist on the CCPA 6-month grace period that ended on July 1st. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of the ...
There is a trust gap.
August 19, 2020 05:00 - 40 minutesBen describes a lawsuit accusing Zoom of misrepresenting their encryption, Dave shares a new project from the EFF that hunts Stingrays, and later in the show, Dave speaks with Rande Price and Chris Pedigo from Digital Content Next, a trade association for digital publishers, about the challenges of aligning the data that websites and apps collect with what consumers expect. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For offici...
Need affects change.
August 12, 2020 05:00 - 42 minutesDave describes the business concerns of a company who makes their living scraping data, Ben explores the legal importance of being able to analyze source code, and later in the show Ben speaks with Professor Julia Lane, Professor at the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service on her forthcoming book, Democratizing Our Data: A Manifesto. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of the top...
The evolution of the internet.
August 05, 2020 05:00 - 43 minutesDave's got the story of the Google geofencing location requests coming under scrutiny, Ben describes how federal officers are using social media streams to track down protesters, and later in the show our conversation with Max Kirby from Publicis Groupe on the Evolution of the internet: how did we get to this point. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of the topics we cover, please conta...
Diversity in contact tracing.
July 29, 2020 05:00 - 41 minutesDave's got the story of the Department of Homeland Security authorizing the collection of information on protestors, Ben covers a European court ruling affecting Facebook, and later in the show our conversation with Elissa Redmiles, a Researcher in the Security & Privacy Group at Microsoft Research. We’ll be getting her take on the privacy concerns of the coronavirus apps. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For officia...
The power of the pen.
July 22, 2020 05:00 - 43 minutesDave's got the story of police using smart streetlights to investigate protesters, Ben has the story of major tech companies responding to China’s new Hong Kong security law, and later in the show our conversation with Scott Godes, partner with Barnes & Thornburg on how companies who are affected by data breaches should approach insurance recovery. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of ...
Law takes time.
July 15, 2020 05:00 - 42 minutesDave's got the story of police using smart streetlights to investigate protesters, Ben has the story of major tech companies responding to China’s new Hong Kong security law, and later in the show our conversation with Hilary Wandall, SVP of Privacy Intelligence at TrustArc, on healthcare privacy issues. While this show covers legal topics, and Ben is a lawyer, the views expressed do not constitute legal advice. For official legal advice on any of the topics we cover, please contact your atto...