Urs Gasser

Dr. Urs Gasser is the Executive Director of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and a Professor of Practice at Harvard Law School. His research and teaching activities focus on information law, policy, and society issues and the changing role of academia in the digitally networked age.

In addition to his appointments at Harvard, Dr. Gasser had visiting professorships at the Singapore Management University School of Law, the University of Zurich Faculty of Law, KEIO University (Japan) and the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland), and taught at Fudan University School of Management (China). He served as a Senior Advisor to the World Economic Forum's Future of the Internet Initiative, where he is a Member of the Global Future Council on New Metrics. He currently also serves as a member of the German Digital Council, appointed by Angela Merkel.

Dr. Gasser has written and edited several books on digital technology issues, and published over 100 articles in professional journals. He is the co-author of “Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives” (Basic Books, 2008 and 2016, with John Palfrey), which has been translated into 10 languages (including Chinese), co-author of “Interop: The Promise and Perils of Highly Interconnected Systems” (Basic Books, 2012, with John Palfrey), and author of a forthcoming book on the future of digital privacy. Recent book publications include Remembering and Forgetting in the Digital Age (Springer, 2018, Co-Editor) and Big Data, Health Law, and Bioethics (Cambridge University Press, 2018, Co-Editor). Additional information about his research can be found on his SSRN author page.

Current projects – several involving the Global Network of Internet & Society Centers, which he helped to incubate – focus on the governance of evolving and emerging technologies such as Cloud Computing, the Internet of Things, Augmented Reality, and Artificial Intelligence, with a particular interest in privacy and security issues and the broader implications of these technologies, including questions of agency and autonomy. As a longer-term research interest, he studies the patterns of interaction between law and innovation, and innovation with the legal system in the digital age.

Dr. Gasser frequently acts as a commentator on digital technology, policy, and society issues for the US and European media.

Areas of Interest

• Cyber Law and Policy and the Internet
• Privacy Law
• Comparative and Foreign Law
• Legal Education

Publications

John G. Palfrey & Urs Gasser, Born Digital: How Children Grow Up in a Digital Age (Basic Books rev. ed. 2016). Categories: Technology & Law Sub-Categories: Networked Society, Information Privacy & Security Links: Type: Book

Urs Gasser, Recoding Privacy Law: Reflections on the Future Relationship Among Law, Technology, and Privacy, 130 Harv. L. Rev. F. 61 (2016). Categories: Technology & Law Sub-Categories: Information Privacy & Security Links: Type: Article

John G. Palfrey & Urs Gasser, Interop: The Promise and Perils of Highly Interconnected Systems (Basic Books 2012). Categories: Technology & Law Sub-Categories: Networked Society Links: Type: Book

John Palfrey & Urs Gasser, The Connected Parent: An Expert Guide to Parenting in a Digital World (forthcoming Oct. 6, 2020). Categories: Family Law, Technology & Law Sub-Categories: Children's Law & Welfare, Networked Society Type: Book

Urs Gasser, Marcello Ienca, James Scheibner, Joanna Sleigh & Effy Vayena, Digital Tools Against COVID-19: Taxonomy, Ethical Challenges, and Navigation Aid, 2 Lancet Digital Health e425 (Aug. 2020). Categories: Health Care, Technology & Law Sub-Categories: Bioethics, Health Law & Policy, Networked Society, Medical Technology, Information Privacy & Security Links:  Type: Article

Urs Gasser & Carolyn Schmitt, The Role of Professional Norms in the Governance of Artificial Intelligence, in The Oxford Handbook of Ethics of AI (Markus D. Dubber, Frank Pasquale & Sunit Das eds., 2020). Categories: Legal Profession, Technology & Law Sub-Categories: Legal Ethics, Cyberlaw, Networked Society, Information Privacy & Security Links: Type: Book

Andres Lombana-Bermudez, Sandra Clio Cortesi, Christian Fieseler, Urs Gasser, Alexa Hasse, Gemma Newlands and Sarah Wu, Youth and the Digital Economy: Exploring Youth Practices, Motivations, Skills, Pathways, and Value Creation (Berkman Klein Center Research Publ'n No. 2020-4, July 1, 2020). Categories: Technology & Law Sub-Categories: Networked Society, Cooperation, Peer-Production & Sharing Links: Type: Other

Urs Gasser, Marcello Ienca, James Scheibner, Joanna Sleigh & Effy Vayena, Digital Tools Against COVID-19: Framing the Ethical Challenges and How to Address Them (Apr. 21, 2020). Categories: Technology & Law, Health Care Sub-Categories: Bioethics, Health Law & Policy, Medical Technology, Networked Society, Information Privacy & Security Links: Type: Other

Caroline O. Buckee, Satchit Balsari, Jennifer Chan, Mercè Crosas, Francesca Dominici, Urs Gasser, Yonatan H. Grad, Bryan Grenfell, M. Elizabeth Halloran, Moritz U. G. Kraemer, Marc Lipsitch, C. Jessica E. Metcalf, Lauren Ancel Meyers, T. Alex Perkins, Mauricio Santillana, Samuel V. Scarpino, Cecile Viboud, Amy Wesolowski, Andrew Schroeder, Aggregated Mobility Data Could Help Fight COVID-19, 368 Science 145 (2020). Categories: Health Care, Technology & Law Sub-Categories: Health Law & Policy, Information Privacy & Security, Networked Society Links: Type: Article

Sandra Cortesi, Alexa Hasse, Andres Lombana, Sonia Kim & Urs Gasser, Youth and Digital Citizenship+ (Plus): Understanding Skills for a Digital World (Berkman Klein Ctr. Res. Publ’n No. 2020-2, Mar. 20, 2020). Categories: Family Law, Technology & Law Sub-Categories: Children's Law & Welfare, Networked Society Links: Type: Other

Justin Clark, Robert Faris, Urs Gasser, Adam Holland, Hilary Ross & Casey Tilton, Content and Conduct: How English Wikipedia Moderates Harmful Speech (Dec. 4, 2019). Categories: Technology & Law Sub-Categories: Networked Society, Information Commons, Communications Law Links: Type: Other

Alexa Hasse, Sandra Cortesi, Andres Lombana & Urs Gasser, Youth and Cyberbullying: Another Look (Berkman Klein Ctr. Res. Publ'n No. 2019-4, Oct. 29, 2019). Categories: Technology & Law, Family Law Sub-Categories: Children's Law & Welfare, Networked Society, Cyberlaw Links: Type: Other

Alexa Hasse, Sandra Cortesi, Andres Lombana & Urs Gasser, Youth and Artificial Intelligence: Where We Stand (Berkman Klein Ctr. Res. Publ’n No 2019-3, May 24, 2019). Categories: Technology & Law, Family Law Sub-Categories: Children's Law & Welfare, Networked Society, Information Privacy & Security Links: Type: Other

Urs Gasser & Carolyn Schmitt, The Role of Professional Norms in the Governance of Artificial Intelligence (April 25, 2019). Categories: Technology & Law, Legal Profession Sub-Categories: Legal Ethics, Cyberlaw, Networked Society, Information Privacy & Security Links: Type: Article

Dennis Redeker, Lex Gill & Urs Gasser, Towards Digital Constitutionalism? Mapping Attempts to Craft an Internet Bill of Rights, 80 Int'l Comm. Gazette, 302 (2018). Categories: Technology & Law, Government & Politics, International, Foreign & Comparative Law Sub-Categories: Politics & Political Theory, European Law, International Law, Cyberlaw, Networked Society Links: Type: Article

I. Glenn Cohen, Holly Fernandez Lynch, Effy Vayena & Urs Gasser, Introduction, in Big Data, Health Law, and Bioethics (I. Glenn Cohen, Holly Fernandez Lynch, Effy Vayena & Urs Gasser eds., 2018). Categories: Technology & Law, Health Care Sub-Categories: Health Law & Policy, Bioethics, Information Privacy & Security, Medical Technology, Networked Society Links:  Type: Book

Micah Altman, Alexandra Wood, David R. O’Brien & Urs Gasser, Practical Approaches to Big Data Privacy Over Time, 8 Int'l Data Privacy L. 29 (2018). Categories: Technology & Law Sub-Categories: Information Privacy & Security Links: Type: Article

Ryan Budish, Herbert Burkert & Urs Gasser, Encryption Policy and its International Impacts: A Framework for Understanding Extraterritorial Ripple Effects (Hoover Inst. Essay, Aegis Series Paper No. 1804, Mar. 2, 2018). Categories: Technology & Law, International, Foreign & Comparative Law Sub-Categories: Comparative Law, Networked Society, Information Privacy & Security, Cyberlaw Links: Type: Other

Big Data, Health Law, and Bioethics (I. Glenn Cohen, Holly Fernandez Lynch, Effy Vayena & Urs Gasser eds., 2018). Categories: Health Care, Technology & Law Sub-Categories: Bioethics, Health Law & Policy, Networked Society, Information Privacy & Security, Medical Technology Links: Type: Book

Kobbi Nissim, Aaron Bembenek, Alexandra Wood, Mark Bun, Marco Gaboardi, Urs Gasser, David R. O’Brien, Thomas Steinke & Salil Vadhan, Bridging the Gap Between Computer Science and Legal Approaches to Privacy, 31 Harv. J.L. & Tech. 687 (2018). Categories: Technology & Law, Government & Politics Sub-Categories: Administrative Law & Agencies, Information Privacy & Security, Networked Society Links: Type: Article

Florent Thouvenin, Peter Hettich, Herbert Burkert & Urs Gasser, Remembering and Forgetting in the Digital Age (2018). Categories: Technology & Law Sub-Categories: Information Privacy & Security, Networked Society, Digital Property Type: Book

Urs Gasser & Virgilio A.F. Almeida, A Layered Model for AI Governance, IEEE Internet Computing, Nov. 20, 2017, at 58. Categories: Technology & Law Sub-Categories: Cyberlaw, Networked Society, Science & Technology, Information Privacy & Security Links:  Type: Article