Efforts at the federal level to pass laws like SOPA and CISPA and require that tech companies build backdoors into their services for law enforcement use have attacted widespread attention and criticism, and rightly so. But DC is far from the only place that officials are making decisions that impact the privacy and free speech rights of tech users. State and local officials are jumping into the fray as well, passing laws or creating policies that have immediate impact without the spotlight that accompanies federal action.
In this talk, I will survey several areas where state and local officials have recently been active, including warrantless location tracking, searches of student and employee devices and online accounts, automated license plate recognition, and DNA collection. I will highlight some of the best and worst policies coming from state and local officials. Most of all, I hope to convince you that keeping an eye on -- and even taking time to educate -- your local sheriff or state legislature may be just as important as protecting your freedoms at the national level.