A Rational Response to the Privacy ‘Crisis’

Capitol Hill Briefing

January 23, 2013 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM EST

B-340 Rayburn House Office Building

Featuring Larry Downes, Author and Internet Industry Analyst; and Jim Harper, Director of Information Policy Studies, Cato Institute; moderated by Kelly William Cobb, Senior Director of External Affairs, Cato Institute.

What passes today as a "debate" over privacy lacks agreed-upon terms of reference, rational arguments, or concrete goals. Though the stars are aligning for a market in privacy products and services, those who believe that rapidly evolving information technologies are eroding privacy regularly pitch their arguments in the direction of lawmakers, pushing for unspecified new rules that would cast a pall over innovation. These calls for ill-considered new laws threaten the remarkable economic conditions that have fueled the Internet revolution up until now. Join us for a conversation on proposed solutions to Internet privacy issues and their impact on the Internet ecosystem, featuring a new Cato Institute policy analysis by Larry Downes, "A Rational Response to the Privacy 'Crisis'."