Year: 2021
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“Signal Loss” and advertising privacy on Facebook
The 2021 Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology, a major award administered by a Japanese foundation, goes to Andrew Chi-Chih Yao, a Chinese computer scientist who earned PhDs from Harvard and the University of Illinois before being a professor at MIT, Stanford, and Princeton and then becoming Dean of an important theoretical computer science education program…
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Faculty search in information technology policy
I’m happy to announce that Princeton University is recruiting a faculty member in information technology policy. The position is open rank — assistant, associate, or full professor — and we welcome applicants from any relevant discipline. The successful candidate will likely be jointly appointed in the School of Public and International Affairs and a disciplinary…
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CITP Emerging Scholars Application is Open
The CITP Emerging Scholars program is a post-baccalaureate program that brings in people who have a bachelor’s degree for two-year staff positions at CITP. The program provides intensive research and/or work experience with real impact, along with coursework and mentoring. The ideal outcome for participants is to either enter a competitive graduate program or to…
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Could quantum computers be cost-effective by 2036?
In theory, quantum computers could be much more efficient at some kinds of tasks, which could be potentially disruptive in applications areas such as cryptography. But you know: in theory, theory and practice are the same, but in practice, they are not. So it’s interesting to find applications where quantum computing might possibly be useful…
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Another 2020 lawsuit over internet voting
Last week I summarized 4 lawsuits filed in 2020 over internet voting, in VA, NJ, NY, NH. Then I learned there was another in North Carolina. In 2020 the North Carolina Council of the Blind sued the State Board of Elections, demanding that the Board offer “alternative format absentee ballots allowing private and independent method…
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Four 2020 lawsuits over internet voting
Citizens with disabilities (and voters living abroad) must have the substantive right to vote—that’s the law. Sometimes that turns into a demand for internet voting. But as I wrote earlier this year, internet voting is dangerously insecure, it’s not what most voters with disabilities want, and there are much better ways of accommodating voters with disabilities,…
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CITP Call for Fellows 2022-23
The Center for Information Technology Policy (CITP) is an interdisciplinary center at Princeton University. The Center is a nexus of expertise in technology, engineering, public policy, and the social sciences on campus. In keeping with the strong University tradition of service, the Center’s research, teaching, and events address digital technologies as they interact with society.…
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National AI Research Infrastructure Needs to Support Independent Evaluation of Performance Claims
By Sayash Kapoor, Mihir Kshirsagar, and Arvind Narayanan Our response to the National AI Research Resource RFI highlights the significance of supporting a research infrastructure that is designed to independently test the validity of the claims of AI performance. In particular, we draw attention to the widespread phenomenon of the industry peddling what we call…
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We need a personal digital advocate
I recently looked up a specialized medical network. For weeks following the search, I was bombarded with ads for the network and other related services: the Internet clearly thought I was on the market for a new doctor. The funny thing is that I was looking this up for someone else and all this information,…
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It’s still practically impossible to secure your computer (or voting machine) against attackers who have 30 minutes of access
It has been understood for decades that it’s practically impossible to secure your computer (or computer-based device such as a voting machine) from attackers who have physical access. The basic principle is that someone with physical access doesn’t have to log in using the password, they can just unscrew your hard drive (or SSD, or…