Denver, CO - Declaring that “Technology alone will not fix the challenge of cyberwarfare,” policy expert Tracy Mitrano called for diplomatic solutions in a speech at the University of Denver Thursday.
“The more we ratchet up technology the more dangerous it will get,” Mitrano warned. “Treaties and agreements such as those between the United States and Russia for nuclear weapons are a working historical precedent.” She has long advocated for international rules to address nation-state cyber warfare as well as to protect the privacy and security of user’s data.
“The fact that the internet is everywhere around the world means that a multilateral approach is required in our contemporary context,” Mitrano said.
Mitrano also called for reforming U.S. privacy laws for both government surveillance and consumer privacy in the electronic realm. “Citizens and consumers of the United States are in desperate need of meaningful privacy legislation,” she said. “The Electronic Communications Privacy Act was passed in 1986, before the Internet was even open to the public.”
The first wiretapping act was passed in the 1960s, balancing the interests of citizens and law enforcement. Mitrano said time and technology has since upended that balance. “For example, the USA-Patriot Act tilted the scales towards law enforcement. And one need only mention Faceboo’ to know that it is time for the federal government to balance the needs of consumers with business. Right now, that balance is way out of whack in the favor of business.
“This area is still new and vibrant,” Mitrano added. “Much work remains to be done to be sure that the United States continues to be a global leader, and to balance the needs of citizens and consumers with those of government and business.”
She was invited to speak to the Denver campus community by the Vice Chancellor for Information Technologies. Mitrano is the former Director of Information Technology Policy at Cornell University and Academic Dean of a cybersecurity certificate program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. A Democrat, she is making her second run for Congress from New York’s 23rd district.
