Cato on Facebook
Cato on Twitter
Cato on YouTube
Cato RSS1000 Massachusetts Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20001-5403
Phone (202) 842 0200
Fax (202) 842 3490
Contact Us
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
"Should Consumers Fear the Comcast Deal?," The New York Times, December 9, 2009
"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
Cato @ Liberty Blog Posts
"Grading Agencies' High-Value Data Sets," February 5, 2010
"Need a Mortgage? Your Papers, Please . . .," February 4, 2010
"Is the Threat of Cyberattack Growing?," February 2, 2010
"An Issue Campaign Passing as Intellectual Inquiry," February 1, 2010
"Data Privacy Day's Man About Town," January 26, 2010
Events
"The Obama Administration's Counterterrorism Policy at One Year," January 13, 2010 [Policy Forum]
"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]
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
Cato scholars analyze President Obama's 2010 State of the Union. January 28, 2010 [Flash Video, 09:38]
Jim Harper discusses Google's threat on withdrawing from China on SkyNews January 13, 2010 [Flash Video, 03:52]
Jim Harper discusses airport security on WSPD's The Brian Wilson Show January 13, 2010 [Flash Audio, 12:38]
"Shoes, Undies and Airplane Security" featuring Jim Harper, January 7, 2010 [Flash Audio, 06:49]
Jim Harper discusses airport security on CNBC's Power Lunch December 28, 2009 [Flash Video, 05:44]
Feeds for Cato events: 