The Clinic brings in a whole range of experts at the intersection of technology and public policy — practitioners, innovators, legislators — and provides law students with an avenue to contribute meaningfully to actual policy creation. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Professor Covington, and I consistently draw on some of the skills honed in the Clinic in my legal practice.
The Technology Law and Public Policy Clinic (Tech-Law Clinic) works at the intersection of public policy and technology. Students have the opportunity to write laws, compose policy papers, meet with stakeholders and provide legislative testimony. In the last few years, Tech-Law Clinicians wrote legislation establishing Washington state's Office of Privacy and Data Security, composed materials leading to the passage of Washington House Bill 1788 (which outlawed non-consensual pornography, also known as "revenge porn") and assisted in the successful passage of Washington House Bill 2970, establishing a working group which will assist the state in crafting policies governing the testing and use of autonomous vehicles. Locally, the Tech-Law Clinic assisted in updating and amending the City of Seattle’s Surveillance Ordinance. Students in the Tech-Law Clinic have written and shared policy papers on topics such as algorithmic discrimination; distributed energy; TOR exit nodes; three dimensional printers and police use of body cameras. Tech-Law clinicians learn about the policymaking process, work with a project team and select and address a current issue where high tech and public policy cross. The Tech-Law Clinic is a unique opportunity to learn about and influence the policymaking process.
How a Secret Google Geofence Warrant Helped Catch the Capitol Riot Mob (Technology Law & Public Policy Clinic paper cited) (Sep 30, 2021 | Source: Wired)
“It does sound unusual, but it's worth noting that this whole circumstance is unusual,” says Tim O’Brien, a tech industry executive currently working on AI policy at Microsoft, who studied geofence warrants at the University of Washington School of Law. “If I were law enforcement, I would argue that the three-step process is unnecessary in this case, because the moment you set foot inside the Capitol, you became a suspect or witness.”
The implementation of AI technologies is ever-present, but what underlying worries should users and developers be concerned about? We asked Tech-Law director Jevan Hutson.
The Clinical Law program is pleased to announce three incoming clinic directors: Jevan Hutson for Technology Law and Public Policy, Jeannine Lemker for the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic and Nicole McGrath for the Tribal Court Public Defense Clinic.
A group of students in the Technology Law and Public Policy Clinic spent the school year unraveling the complexities of consumer health data privacy, advocating for the privacy rights of Washingtonians.
Students and faculty in the Tax, Technology Law and Public Policy, and Tribal Court clinics address issues raised by COVID-19.
UW’s Technology Law and Public Policy Clinic — old law in new tech and how lawyers can guide smarter policy