Privacy expert Anita L. Allen discusses her framework for stopping online surveillance, scamming and exclusion targeted at Black Americans in the latest episode of “Common Law,” a podcast of the University of Virginia School of Law.
Allen, the Henry R. Silverman Professor of Law and a professor of philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania, focuses her work on the philosophical dimensions of privacy and data protection law, ethics, bioethics, legal philosophy, women’s rights and diversity in higher education.
She joins hosts Dean Risa Goluboff and Professor Danielle Citron to discuss her paper “Dismantling the ‘Black Opticon’: Privacy, Race, Equity, and Online Date-Protection Reform,” published recently in the Yale Law Journal. In the article and on the show, Allen explains three ways Black Americans are discriminated against online — through surveillance, exclusion from good opportunities (such as housing ads aimed at whites) and targeting for fraudulent opportunities. She offers a framework for evaluating solutions to the problem.
The show’s fourth season, called “Co-Counsel,” features a rotating set of co-hosts: Citron, John Harrison, Cathy Hwang and Gregory Mitchell. Each is joining Goluboff to discuss cutting-edge research on law topics of their choice.
“Common Law” is available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, YouTube, Spotify and other popular podcast sources. The show is produced by Emily Richardson-Lorente.
Past seasons have focused on “The Future of Law,” “When Law Changed the World” and “Law and Equity.”
You can follow the show on the website CommonLawPodcast.com or Twitter at @CommonLawUVA.
Founded in 1819, the University of Virginia School of Law is the second-oldest continuously operating law school in the nation. Consistently ranked among the top law schools, Virginia is a world-renowned training ground for distinguished lawyers and public servants, instilling in them a commitment to leadership, integrity and community service.