Defense Counsel Journal

President's Page - Volume 84, Number 4

January 20, 2020

Much has occurred since Joan Fullam Irick kicked off the Privacy Project initiative in 2002-2003, during her term as President of the IADC. Close to fifteen years ago, Joan set into motion her Privacy Project that continues to grow in importance for all of us.

Understanding the legal ramifications of expectations of privacy in the age of algorithmic bias, developing artificial intelligence, widespread surveillance, drones, electronic medical records, and other recent technologies, is essential to lawyers around the world. U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts spoke to this point this summer during an interview where he said that new technology will continue to pose challenges for courts to understand and a challenge for lawyers to make sure they do a good job of presenting it to the Court.

As this edition and the previous edition of the Defense Counsel Journal demonstrate, the IADC is committed to educating our membership regarding the legal challenges posed by advancements in technology, and in this instance, in the context of privacy. This important and rapidly changing area of the law is a legacy of Joan Irick from which we continue to benefit.

Special thanks to Eve B. Masinter and S. Gordon McKee for not only leading the Joan Fullam Irick Privacy Project V, but also for their excellent Foreword in the first edition of Privacy Project V in the Defense Counsel Journal where they describe in detail the history of the Privacy Project and its progeny.

In a world where we seem to be moving away from an expectation of privacy because of security concerns arising from worldwide terrorism and rapid advances in technology, it is up to the courts, legislatures, and regulatory bodies to balance these realities with everyone’s prized civil liberty of privacy. The rule of law requires that these entities safeguard and thoughtfully examine this balance in real time or we may completely lose the expectation of privacy.

In concluding, I would like to thank the Special Editorial Board and authors who contributed their time and noteworthy articles for the Privacy Project V.
 

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