[speaker] Jennifer Daskal, Associate Professor of Law, American University.

Fighting crime and thwarting terrorism is not what it was 20 years ago. Globally, law enforcement agencies are demanding more and more ready access to social media company data about customers — most of which is held by U.S.-based Internet giants like Google, Facebook, Twitter and Snap. However, expedient access to that data is hampered by privacy rules and our Constitution’s 4th amendment. Now, the U.S. Department of Justice, working with allies around the globe, have proposed that Congress streamline the rules so that foreign police agencies could access social media data more quickly. The fix would require updating the the Electronic Communication Privacy Act (ECPA), which many critics say is outdated. Our panel will explore the pros and cons of this proposed fix and what it means for Congress, for U.S. citizens, and for U.S. Internet companies.