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Jim Harper
Director of Information Policy Studies
As director of information policy studies, Jim Harper focuses on the difficult problems of adapting law and policy to the unique problems of the information age. Harper is a member of the Department of Homeland Security's Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee. His work has been cited by USA Today, the Associated Press, and Reuters. He has appeared on Fox News Channel, CBS, and MSNBC, and other media. His scholarly articles have appeared in the Administrative Law Review, the Minnesota Law Review, and the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly. Recently, Harper wrote the book Identity Crisis: How Identification Is Overused and Misunderstood. Harper is the editor of Privacilla.org, a Web-based think tank devoted exclusively to privacy, and he maintains online federal spending resource WashingtonWatch.com. He holds a J.D. from UC Hastings College of Law.
Media Contact: 202-789-5200
To Book a Speaking Engagement: 202-789-5226
E-Mail: jharper@cato.org
Books and Book Chapters
"National ID Systems," Chapter 29 of the Cato Handbook for Policymakers, 7th edition.
"Regulation of Electronic Speech and Commerce," Chapter 30 of the Cato Handbook for Policymakers, 7th edition.
"Telecommunications, Broadband, and Media Policy," Chapter 37 of the Cato Handbook for Policymakers, 7th edition.
"Domestic Security," Chapter 47 of the Cato Handbook for Policymakers, 7th edition.
Identity Crisis: How Identification Is Overused and Misunderstood, (May 2006).
Cato Studies
"Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification: Franz Kafka's Solution to Illegal Immigration," Policy Analysis no. 612, March 6, 2008.
"Effective Counterterrorism and the Limited Role of Predictive Data Mining," by Jeff Jonas and Jim Harper, Policy Analysis no. 584, December 11, 2006.
"Understanding Privacy -- and the Real Threats to It," Policy Analysis no. 520, August 4, 2004.
Articles and Newsletters
"The Promise That Keeps on Breaking," TechKnowledge, April 13, 2009.
"Government-Run Cyber Security? No, Thanks," TechKnowledge, March 13, 2009.
"U.S. Patent and Trademark Office: FAIL," TechKnowledge, February 9, 2009.
""Clean Tech": Does Going Green Mean Going Red? ," TechKnowledge, December 10, 2008.
"Scrap E-Verify," TechKnowledge, November, 24, 2008.
Opinion and Commentary
"Real ID Laws Are a National Catastrophe," Delaware County Times, August 24, 2008
"Can E-Verify Help Stem Tide of Illegal Immigration?," Daily Herald, March 30, 2008
"Sanford Should Stand Up to Fed Bullying Over REAL IDs," Charleston Post-Courier, March 27, 2008
"Rejecting National ID," American Spectator, February 7, 2008
"U.S.-Imposed Border Bedlam Will Hurt Michigan," Detroit News, January 30, 2008
Cato @ Liberty Blog Posts
"Calling Secretary Napolitano: Arizona to Reject EDLs," July 2, 2009
"Some Thinking on "Cyber"," June 30, 2009
"Schneier and Friends on Fixing Airport Security ," June 25, 2009
""It's a Lot Easier to Promise to Change Washington Than It Is to Actually Change It"," June 22, 2009
"Exciting! But Not True . . . ," June 19, 2009
Events
"In Search of Jefferson's Moose: Notes on the State of Cyberspace ," February 4, 2009 [Book Forum]
"Shaping the Obama Administration’s Counterterrorism Strategy," January 12-13, 2009 [Conference]
"Just Give Us the Data! Prospects for Putting Government Information to Revolutionary New Uses ," December 10, 2008 [Policy Forum]
"Against Intellectual Monopoly," November 10, 2008 [Book Forum]
"The Crime of Reason and the Closing of the Scientific Mind," October 10, 2008 [Book Forum]
Speeches and Testimony
"Assessing Cybersecurity Activities at NIST and DHS," June 25, 2009.
"The Federal REAL ID Act of 2005," October 25, 2007.
"Will REAL ID Actually Make Us Safer? An Examination of Privacy and Civil Liberties Concerns ," May 8, 2007.
"Hearing on Proposals to Improve the Electronic Employment Verification and Worksite Enforcement System," April 26, 2007.
"Understanding the Realities of REAL ID: A Review of Efforts to Secure Drivers' Licenses and Identification Cards," March 26, 2007.
Multimedia
"Cybersecurity: A Meaningless Term" featuring Jim Harper, July 2, 2009 [Flash Audio, 06:33]
Jim Harper discusses "cyber czar" on FBN's Cavuto May 31, 2009 [Flash Video, 04:09]
Jim Harper discusses Obama's cyber infrastructure plan on CNBC May 29, 2009 [Flash Video, 05:21]
Jim Harper cited on FOX Special Report on Obama's failing transparency efforts April 28, 2009 [Flash Video, 00:24]
"Obama Batting .071 on Transparency Pledge" featuring Jim Harper, April 27, 2009 [Flash Audio, 06:18]