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Jim Harper


Self Description

January 2006: "As director of information policy studies, Jim Harper focuses on the difficult problems of adapting law and policy to the unique problems of the information age. Harper is a member of the Department of Homeland Security's Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee. His work has been cited by USA Today, the Associated Press, and Reuters. He has appeared on Fox News Channel, CBS, and MSNBC, and other media. His scholarly articles have appeared in the Administrative Law Review, the Minnesota Law Review, and the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly. Harper is the editor of Privacilla.org, a Web-based think tank devoted exclusively to privacy. He holds a J.D. from Hastings College of the Law."

http://www.cato.org/people/harper.html

Third-Party Descriptions

April 2008: '"Lots of organizations and institutions, governmental and private both, are really good at collecting data, but don't have the practices and technologies in place to make sure [they're] well housed and secure," says Jim Harper, a security expert at the libertarian CATO Institute in Washington. "That's why people are able to dip into databases they shouldn't dip into."'

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0418/p03s08-usgn.html

April 2007: Harper says use of the scanner emphasizes the need for society to decide whether average, law-abiding Americans should be stopped and checked for warrants as they go about their business. 'The Framers of the Constitution suggested that they shouldn't be when they wrote the Fourth Amendment,' he says.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-04-09-handheld_N.htm

January 2007: Jim Harper, author of Identity Crisis: How Identification is Overused and Misunderstood, labels medical identity theft as a 'marginal risk' along with others such as being hit by lightening or becoming the victim of a terrorist attack.

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/insurance/20070105_medical_identity_theft_a1.asp

August 2004: 'A middle ground is outlined by Jim Harper, editor of Privacilla.org, a Web-based project that seeks to capture "privacy" as a public policy issue: "A physician should strike the balance carefully between the security risks involved in emailing and the importance of quick, effective communication."'

http://www.aarp.org/computers-features/Articles/a2004-06-02-emaildoctor.html

Relationships

RoleNameTypeLast Updated
Organization Executive (past or present) Cato Institute Organization Jan 30, 2006
Advisor/Consultant to (past or present) Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Organization Jan 30, 2006
Student/Trainee (past or present) Hastings College of the Law Organization Jan 30, 2006

Articles and Resources

Date Fairness.com Resource Read it at:
Apr 18, 2008 Privacy becoming more elusive for Americans: Despite strict laws, personal data remains vulnerable to unethical employees, human error, and cyberhackers.

QUOTE: The problem, say security experts, is that the world's ability to collect data has far outstripped its ability to protect it. "Lots of organizations and institutions, governmental and private both, are really good at collecting data, but don't have the practices and technologies in place to make sure [they're] well housed and secure," says Jim Harper, a security expert at the libertarian CATO Institute in Washington.

 Christian Science Monitor
Apr 10, 2007 With a zap or swipe of IDs, device helps nab scofflaws

QUOTE: A handheld device that can tell in a second whether a person is on one of 140 wanted or watch lists is being hailed by police as a crime-fighting breakthrough and flayed by civil libertarians as an intrusion on the innocent

 USA TODAY
Mar 01, 2007 National ID Card Rules Unveiled

QUOTE: Critics, such as American Civil Liberties Union attorney Tim Sparapani, charge that the bill increases government access to data on Americans and amplifies the risk of identity theft, without providing significant security benefits.

 Wired
Feb 28, 2007 New Profiling Program Raises Privacy Concerns

QUOTE: The Department of Homeland Security is testing a data-mining program that would attempt to spot terrorists by combing vast amounts of information about average Americans, such as flight and hotel reservations. Similar to a Pentagon program killed by Congress in 2003 over concerns about civil liberties, the new program could take effect as soon as next year. But researchers testing the system are likely to already have violated privacy laws...

 Washington Post
Jan 05, 2007 Medical identity theft can kill you

QUOTE: Medical identity theft occurs when criminals obtain information such as a health insurance identification or Social Security number and use it to get health care or to obtain reimbursement from insurers and others for false claims. That means your medical history and health care records can include someone else's information. This can be life threatening: for example, causing a transfusion of the wrong blood type.

 Bankrate.com
Aug 01, 2004 Can You Email Your Doctor? Should You?

QUOTE: We rarely think about how the Internet and email have changed society and our lives in just ten years. No other technology achieved such wide use so fast.

 AARP Bulletin