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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
"Net Neutrality Regulation: Consequences for Investment and Consumer Welfare," November 20, 2009
"The Third Strategic Actor," November 19, 2009
""I E-Verify": Do Businesses Agree With Your Values?," November 19, 2009
"Fort Hood: That No Such Attack Ever Occurs Again ," November 17, 2009
"The Negative Feedback Loop Begins," November 17, 2009
Events
"Assessing the Options: REAL ID, PASS ID, or No National ID at All," July 24, 2009 [Capitol Hill Briefing]
"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]
Speeches and Testimony
"Performance of the DC One Card Program," October 9, 2009.
"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.
Multimedia
"Preventing the Next Fort Hood Shooting" featuring Jim Harper, November 13, 2009 [Flash Audio, 06:31]
Jim Harper discusses the FCC's plan to regulate the internet on Russia Today October 23, 2009 [Flash Video, 04:29]
Jim Harper discusses the FCC's plan to regulate the internet on FOX October 22, 2009 [Flash Video, 02:41]
Jim Harper discusses the National I.D. issue on KCUI's Privacy Piracy October 8, 2009 [Flash Audio, 58:46]
Jim Harper discusses net neutrality on WJR's The Frank Beckmann Show September 22, 2009 [Flash Audio, 16:42]
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