Chris Hoofnagle
Professor of Law and Information In Residence
Department: School of Law
Colleges / Universities: University of California, Berkeley
Contact
341 Berkeley Law Building
Berkeley, CA 94720
Email: choofnagle@berkeley.edu
Website: Berkeley Law faculty profile
Professional website: Chris Hoofnagle
Chris Jay Hoofnagle is Professor of Law and of Information in Residence at the School of Law, University of California, Berkeley. He is a Faculty Director of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology. Additionally, he is affiliated faculty with the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing, UC Berkeley. Professor Hoofnagle helps students from different disciplinary perspectives understand the effects of law on technology. He teaches cybersecurity, privacy, consumer protection, forensics, and seminars on new technologies.
Professor Hoofnagle’s new book with Simson Garfinkel, Law and Policy for the Quantum Age is forthcoming 2021 from Cambridge University Press, which also published his first book, Federal Trade Commission Privacy Law and Policy (2016).
Professor Hoofnagle is an elected member of the American Law Institute. Licensed to practice in California and Washington, D.C., he is of counsel to Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP. He also serves on boards for 4iQ and Palantir Technologies.
Degrees
J.D. University of Georgia School of Law, 2000
B.A. University of Georgia, 1996
Recent Academic Article Summaries
Breaking the Privacy Gridlock: A Broader Look at Remedies
Regulatory systems outside of privacy can serve as models for the enforcement of consumer privacy legislation. Regulatory oversight, self-regulation, and class action suits may be effective in enforcing privacy standards.
Environmental law may inform privacy enforcement, as it recognizes collective harms.
The European Union General Data Protection Regulation: What It Is and What It Means
Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the most important data protection regulation in decades, and will affect data processing world-wide. Under the GDPR, firms must develop detailed data processing policies.
Many firms based in the United States will be affected by the GDPR. GDPR regulators have expanded enforcement powers.
The Federal Trade Commission's Inner Privacy Struggle
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) privacy cases involve attorneys in the Bureau of Consumer Protection and economists in the Bureau of Economics, who are skeptical of privacy crusades. In future, the Bureau of Economics will play a larger role.
When the FTC brings cases under an “unfairness” theory, economists play a greater role. Economists’ privacy skepticism reflects their methods, such as cost-benefit analysis.
FTC Regulation of Cybersecurity and Surveillance
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulates monitoring and tracking activities by private-sector entities in the United States. Such activities include intrusive web monitoring or insecure product design. Under principles established in FTC cases, firms may be liable for direct surveillance of consumers, or for surveillance by third parties.
The FTC's actions support civil liberties and make firms more responsible for tracking and monitoring of consumers.
What We Buy When We Buy Now
Many consumers are unaware that digital books, movies, or musical work cannot be transferred to others. Because consumers’ expectations are shaped in markets for tangible books, records, and CDs, sellers’ use of terms like “buy now” for digital media is deceptive.
Sellers should disclose limits on the rights that consumers acquire when they buy digital media. Disclosure would spur competition between sellers of digital media.
Blog Posts
Quotes in the News
Hoofnagle, C. (2020, September 4). FR24 News.“We need to come to a place where data controllers are required to have procedures and safeguards, and effective enforcement against abuse.”
Chris Hoofnagle
Professor of Law and Information In Residence
School of Law
University of California, Berkeley
Hoofnagle, C. (2019, March 15). Forbes.“Filing false info with the FTC and other regulators can be criminally prosecuted. Under other statutes, there is sometimes a specific standard articulated for personal liability. A great deal will have to do with Zuckerberg’s personal direction of decisions.”
Chris Hoofnagle
Professor of Law and Information In Residence
School of Law
University of California, Berkeley
Hoofnagle, C. (2019, February 2). The Wall Street Journal.“We’re entering this world where sellers can so deeply interfere with users and their devices that we may live to regret that.”
Chris Hoofnagle
Professor of Law and Information In Residence
School of Law
University of California, Berkeley
Hoofnagle, C. (2018, August 13). New York Magazine.“I want these tools, you want these tools, everyone wants these tools. The question is: on what terms are they offered to you?”
Chris Hoofnagle
Professor of Law and Information In Residence
School of Law
University of California, Berkeley
Hoofnagle, C. (2018, April 17). USA Today.“One has to make an argument that consumers were deceived about friend information sharing, and that’s a difficult point to prove.”
Chris Hoofnagle
Professor of Law and Information In Residence
School of Law
University of California, Berkeley
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