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“Don’t Reinvent the Wheel, Just Realign It.” How Lessons from the Belmont Report Can Help Govern the Use of AI in Research

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“Don’t Reinvent the Wheel, Just Realign It.”Just Realign It.”[1] How Lessons from the Belmont Report Can Help Govern the Use of AI in Research How Lessons from the Belmont Report Can Help Govern the Use of AI in Research

Steven Hammerton

 

Background

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly integrated into many areas of life, including research. However, legislation and regulation lag. Years into the widespread adoption of AI and the United States is still without meaningful guardrails to address the ethical quandaries that stem from the use of AI. Until there is comprehensive legislation, the burden of ensuring ethical training, development, and usage of AI will be on the developers, deployers, and users of AI, such as researchers and research participants. This article will explore three different ethical issues associated with AI and how principles from the Belmont Report can guide researchers and other users of AI in their pursuit of ethical AI.

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AI Tracking in Small Town Maine?: Real Life Optimization and Our Expectation of Privacy

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AI Tracking in Small Town Maine?: Real Life Optimization and Our Expectation of Privacy

Viv Daniel

 

I. Introduction

Increasingly, the intangible world of the internet has been likened to physical space – the concept of the “digital town square,” the term “online space,” and the short-lived promise of the metaverse all come to mind – but recent developments beg the question: Are our physical spaces starting to resemble digital life?

This year, Old Town, Maine became the latest Bangor-area community to sign up for Placer.ai’s services through the Greater Bangor Recreation Economy for Rural Communities group, which is part of Eastern Maine Development Corporation.[1] The AI service collects location data from the smartphones of people moving in and out of these communities, alongside information about where these phones were immediately before and after moving through the monitored area.[2] The AI also collects personal data about the smartphone’s owner, including income level and other demographic information.[3]

In 2025, many Americans might expect that their movements from site-to-site online are being tracked, and their data collected along the way. In their real physical lives, even, most Americans put up with a certain degree of tracking and data collection in the form of surveillance cameras, cell-site location information (CSLI), and the like.[4] Still, many people would likely be surprised to find that their local government (or that of their vacation destination) had contracted with a private company to track their movements and income. So, why would a city or town sign up for such a tracking program?

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Implications of New School Surveillance Methods on Student Data Privacy, National Security, Electronic Surveillance, and the Fourth Amendment

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Implications of New School Surveillance Methods on Student Data Privacy, National Security, Electronic Surveillance, and the Fourth Amendment

By Amanda Peskin, University of Maryland, Francis King Carey School of Law, Class of 2024

Abstract

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, schools have escalated their use of educational technology to improve students’ in-school and at-home learning. Although educational technology has many educational benefits for students, it has serious implications for students’ data privacy rights. Not only does using technology for educational practices allow schools to surveil their students, but it also avails students to data collection by the educational technology companies. This paper discusses the legal background of surveilling and monitoring student activity, provides the implications surveillance has on technology, equity, and self-expression, and offers several policy-based improvements to better protect students’ data privacy.

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“You Have the Right to Remain Silent(?)”: An Analysis of Courts’ Inconsistent Treatment of the Various Means to Unlock Phones in Relation to the Right Against Self-Incrimination

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“You Have the Right to Remain Silent(?)”: An Analysis of Courts’ Inconsistent Treatment of the Various Means to Unlock Phones in Relation to the Right Against Self-Incrimination

By Thomas E. DeMarco, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, Class of 2023[*]

Riley and Carpenter are the most recent examples of the Supreme Court confronting new challenges technology presents to its existing doctrines surrounding privacy issues. But while the majority of decisions focus on Fourth Amendment concerns regarding questions of unreasonable searches, far less attention has been given to Fifth Amendment concerns. Specifically, how does the Fifth Amendment’s protections against self-incrimination translate to a suspect’s right to refuse to unlock their device for law enforcement to search and collect evidence from? Additionally, how do courts distinguish between various forms of unlocking devices, from passcodes to facial scans?

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The Double-Edged Promise of Cryptocurrency: How Innovation Creates New Vulnerabilities and How Government Oversight Can Reduce Crypto Crime

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The Double-Edged Promise of Cryptocurrency: How Innovation Creates New Vulnerabilities and How Government Oversight Can Reduce Crypto Crime

By Jason H. Meuse, University of Maine School of Law, Class of 2023

Abstract

The fallout from the FTX fraud scheme brought the dangers of crypto front-and-center. Not only did FTX perpetrate a massive fraud, but its fall exposed the cryptocurrency exchange to hacking resulting in the theft of over $477 million in crypto assets. This theft is not isolated to FTX; by October 2022, hackers had already stolen over $3 billion. In addition, new organizational structure and technology in the crypto industry has introduced new vulnerabilities. Cryptocurrency exchanges, decentralized exchanges, and cross-chain bridges are prime targets for hackers to both steal and launder crypto assets. Part of the reason these technologies leave assets vulnerable is that they undermine a central premise of crypto: a currency system accountable to users within a closed ecosystem. While the industry has responded by increasing its security standards and procedures, its anti-government attitude has inhibited cooperation with government that could make the crypto marketplace even more secure. Many firms are incorporated outside of U.S. jurisdiction, lightening the compliance burden at the cost of security. However, establishing industry security standards and cooperating with the government can lead to higher security and greater consumer confidence.

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Rethinking the Government’s Role in Private Sector Cybersecurity

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Rethinking the Government’s Role in Private Sector Cybersecurity

By Devon H. Draker, University of Maine School of Law, class of 2023 [1]

Abstract

Cyber-attacks on the private sector through the theft of trade secrets and ransomware attacks threaten US interests at a federal level by undermining US economic competitiveness and funding groups with interests adverse to those of the US. The federal government can regulate cyberspace under the Commerce Clause, but the current cybersecurity regulatory landscape is ineffective in addressing these harms. It is ineffective because legislation is either bad-actor focused and punishes the proverbial “hacker,” which has no teeth due to jurisdictional reach limitations, or because it attempts to punish the victim-company in hopes of motivating the development of sufficient safeguards. The missing puzzle piece in solving this issue is “intelligence.” Intelligence in military terms is the process of combining information to create an actionable plan that anticipates what the enemy will do based on operational factors. The utility of intelligence in cyberspace is that it provides companies the ability to anticipate not only when they may be attacked based on trends in their sector, but also what methods would likely be used to carry out the attack. There are two ways that cybersecurity intelligence could be achieved. The first approach involves integrating cybersecurity units from the United States Military into the private sector to collect information on attacks and provide intelligence to private sector companies based on this information gathering. This approach also allows the US Military to continue its proficiency in the cyberspace domain, which is a rising concern for US military leaders. The second approach involves expanding the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) regulatory powers to enact mandatory reporting regulations for more than just “critical infrastructure.” Each approach has its own drawbacks, but both offer significant advantages as compared to the current regulatory landscape.

 

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Digitizing the Fourth Amendment: Privacy in the Age of Big Data Policing

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Written by Charles E. Volkwein

ABSTRACT

Today’s availability of massive data sets, inexpensive data storage, and sophisticated analytical software has transformed the capabilities of law enforcement and created new forms of “Big Data Policing.” While Big Data Policing may improve the administration of public safety, these methods endanger constitutional protections against warrantless searches and seizures. This Article explores the Fourth Amendment consequences of Big Data Policing in three parts. First, it provides an overview of Fourth Amendment jurisprudence and its evolution in light of new policing technologies. Next, the Article reviews the concept of “Big Data” and examines three forms of Big Data Policing: Predictive Policing Technology (PPT); data collected by third-parties and purchased by law enforcement; and geofence warrants. Finally, the Article concludes with proposed solutions to rebalance the protections afforded by the Fourth Amendment against these new forms of policing.

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Say “Bonjour” to New Blanket Privacy Regulations?

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The FTC Considers Tightening the Leash on the Commercial Data Free-for-All and Loose Data Security Practices in an Effort to Advance Toward a Framework More Akin to the GDPR

By Hannah Grace Babinski, class of 2024

On August 11, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) concerning possible rulemaking surrounding “commercial surveillance” and “lax data security practices”[1] and established a public forum date of September 8, 2022.[2] The FTC’s specific objective for issuing this ANPR is to obtain public input concerning “whether [the FTC] should implement new trade regulation rules or other regulatory alternatives concerning the ways in which companies (1) collect, aggregate, protect, use, analyze, and retain consumer data, as well as (2) transfer, share, sell, or otherwise monetize that data in ways that are unfair or deceptive.”[3]

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Life’s Not Fair. Is Life Insurance?

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The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence techniques by life insurers poses increased risks of discrimination, and yet, regulators are responding with a potentially unworkable state-by-state patchwork of regulations. Could professional standards provide a faster mechanism for a nationally uniform solution?

By Mark A. Sayre, Class of 2024

Introduction

Among the broad categories of insurance offered in the United States, individual life insurance is unique in a few key respects that make it an attractive candidate for the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI).[1] First, individual life insurance is a voluntary product, meaning that individuals are not required by law to purchase it in any scenario.[2] As a result, in order to attract policyholders, life insurers must convince customers not only to choose their company over other companies but also convince customers to choose their product over other products that might compete for a share of discretionary income (such as the newest gadget or a family vacation). Life insurers can, and do, argue that these competitive pressures provide natural constraints on the industry’s use of practices that the public might view as burdensome, unfair or unethical and that such constraints reduce the need for heavy-handed regulation.[3]

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Leaning into CHAOS (Child’s Health and Online Safety Act): Revision to FTC’s Enforcement of COPPA & New Model Rule for Child Advertising

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Comment

By Gabrielle Schwartz, Class of 2023

I. Introduction

A wise author once wrote, “I know, up top you are seeing great sights, but down here at the bottom we, too, should have rights.”[1] Dr. Suess not only understood the importance of inspiring children but believed it was essential to teach children valuable life lessons. As more children continue to stray away from reading as their source of entertainment, children are more likely to become fascinated by the beauty of the internet. Although the internet’s capabilities may positively impact children, there are also adverse effects through the use of the internet’s products, services, and content. Many companies, individuals (such as parents), and lawmakers are calling for action to be taken to prevent and protect against arguably toxic online content.

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