Emerging technologies and the legal and policy challenges surrounding them is the focus of a new lecture series beginning this fall. A joint collaboration between Computing and Information Sciences (CIS) and Cornell Law School, the Tech/Law Colloquium is a series of dialogues with thinkers engaged in research on the intersections of law and technology, such as surveillance, privacy and algorithmic bias.

“There’s a lot of excitement about upcoming policy questions around emerging technology, particularly the development of artificial intelligence and the need to develop stronger policy on how to govern it,” said Karen Levy, assistant professor in the Department of Information Science and associated faculty member at the Law School. “These colloquium speakers think about how to best govern emerging technologies, how they challenge legal and policy frameworks, and how to mediate their risks while reaping their benefits.”

Lectures will be held Tuesdays from 7 to 8:15 p.m. in G01 Gates Hall, and they are open to the public.

• Sept. 5 – Arvind Narayanan (computer science, Princeton University): “Uncovering Commercial Surveillance on the Web.”
• Sept. 12 – Elizabeth Joh (law, University of California, Davis): “The Undue Influence of Surveillance Technology Companies on Policing.”
• Sept. 19 – Woodrow Hartzog (law, Northeastern University): “Privacy’s Blueprint: The Battle to Control the Design of New Technologies.”
• Sept. 26 – Jennifer Doleac (public policy/economics, University of Virginia): “The Deterrent Effects of DNA Databases: Evidence From the U.S. and Denmark.”
• Oct. 3 – Solon Barocas (information science, Cornell): “Regulating Inscrutable Systems.”
• Oct. 24 – James Grimmelmann (law, Cornell Tech): “The Structure and Interpretation of Legal Programs.”
• Oct. 31 – Fred Schneider (computer science, Cornell): “A Doctrine of Public Cybersecurity.”
• Nov. 7 – Ifeoma Ajunwa (ILR, Cornell): “Hiring by Algorithm.”
• Nov. 14 – Deirdre Mulligan (information/law, University of California, Berkeley): TBA.
• Nov. 28 – Mark Latonero (Data & Society Research Institute/communication, University of Southern California): “Technological Interventions in the Refugee/Migration Crisis.”

Leslie Morris is director of communications for Computing and Information Science.