ICDS News

Renowned cyber, privacy law scholar joins Dickinson Law, CyberScience Institute

CARLISLE, PA. — Penn State’s Dickinson Law and the Penn State Institute for Computational and Data Sciences (ICDS) have announced the joint appointment of Anne Toomey McKenna as a distinguished scholar of cyber law and policy and professor in practice. McKenna is an attorney and author with more than 24 years of practice experience in cyber, privacy, electronic surveillance and cellular law, and a leading scholar on the challenges and opportunities in the growing field of cyberlaw.

Her joint appointment, which begins July 1, supports Penn State’s strategic focus on interdisciplinary scholarship in the cyber and data privacy fields.

McKenna will teach cyberlaw-related subjects complementing Dickinson Law’s broader initiatives in cyberlaw, data privacy and information security, including the launch of two new certificate programs for juris doctor students — a  certificate in cyberlaw, data privacy and information security and a certificate in corporate compliance, with a concentration in information security — as well as the law school’s recent cybersecurity simulation with the U.S. Army War College.

She will teach “Cyberlaw in Practice,” an innovative course that defines in practical terms what cyberlaw is, explains basic cyber technology platforms, teaches students how manifold sources of law integrate to comprise “cyberlaw,” and then illuminates — through hands-on, real-world examples — how cyberlaw functions across diverse legal practice areas. Students leave the course uniquely prepared to practice law in today’s cyber world.

“The addition of Professor McKenna to Dickinson Law’s faculty expands both the law school’s and ICS’s work in developing Penn State as a leader in the cyberlaw, privacy and data security fields,” Dickinson Law Dean and Professor of Law Gary S. Gildin said. “We are excited to partner with ICS and to add her expertise and wealth of experience to our growing lineup of cyber-related programs and initiatives.”

As an ICS faculty co-hire, McKenna plans to promote new avenues of interdisciplinary research throughout Penn State and build connections with experts outside the University. By working with ICS to coordinate activities and programming, McKenna will share her knowledge with the Penn State community about data and information privacy, data laws, and how the law relates to emerging technologies such as social media. She plans to develop courses and seminars designed for students in all disciplines related to hacking, artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, and other similar types of technology.

“McKenna is an integral piece to the interdisciplinary effort ICDS is making within the field of law,” said ICDS Director and Professor of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science Jenni Evans. “Through McKenna, ICDS and Penn State will be able to play a larger part in the ever-growing importance of data privacy and cyber policy and law.”

McKenna is a prolific scholar who has engaged in interdisciplinary collaboration across the University’s colleges and units. In her role as an ICDS associate, McKenna has educated University faculty campus-wide about data use, data risks and legal compliance. With significant grant funding from the National Security Agency (NSA), she currently is working with Penn State’s Applied Research Laboratory, the College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST), ICDS, and Penn State colleague Vice Admiral James W. Houck to draft a cyberlaw course that will be taught to college and graduate students and professionals across the U.S. This is a combined NSA/Penn State effort to develop the next generation cyber workforce.

In May, McKenna and IST faculty created the first-ever joint hacking simulation that brought law and IST students together to witness firsthand how a phishing email cyber hack occurs and what steps are necessary to secure electronic evidence and ensure legal compliance. McKenna also has organized and participated in panel discussions and working group exercises across the University’s various academic units.

McKenna’s two treatises, “Wiretapping & Eavesdropping” and “Jones on Evidence, 7th Ed.,” are widely cited by federal and state courts and relied upon by attorneys, researchers and scholars grappling with cyberlaw, electronic surveillance and evidence issues. Her media presence includes appearances on or quotes in NPR’s “Morning Edition,” The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, The Boston Globe, VICE News, Bloomberg Radio, The Intercept, FOX News and CBS News, among others.

Prior to joining Dickinson Law and ICDS, McKenna was a visiting professor at Penn State Law. Before her full-time faculty appointment at the University, McKenna represented large and small businesses, educational clients and individuals in matters involving workplace privacy and surveillance, data practices, data breach and data theft, website privacy policies and terms of use, cellular practices, geolocation tracking, online content and speech, online torts, content take-downs, electronic surveillance statutory claims, and privacy.

She has consulted with government officials about wiretapping, computer and cellular searches, geolocation tracking, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). McKenna also served as the principal legal consultant for the Police Foundation and the Justice Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services on the use of UAVs by domestic law enforcement.

Share

Related Posts

• Featured Researcher: Nick Tusay
• Multi-institutional team to use AI to evaluate social, behavioral science claims
• NSF invests in cyberinfrastructure institute to harness cosmic data
• Center for Immersive Experiences set to debut, serving researchers and students
• Distant Suns, Distant Worlds
• CyberScience Seminar: Researcher to discuss how AI can help people avoid adverse drug interactions
• AI could offer warnings about serious side effects of drug-drug interactions
• Taking RTKI drugs during radiotherapy may not aid survival, worsens side effects
• Cost-effective cloud research computing options now available for researchers
• Costs of natural disasters are increasing at the high end
• Model helps choose wind farm locations, predicts output
• Virus may jump species through ‘rock-and-roll’ motion with receptors
• Researchers seek to revolutionize catalyst design with machine learning
• Resilient Resumes team places third in Nittany AI Challenge
• ‘AI in Action’: Machine learning may help scientists explore deep sleep
• Clickbait Secrets Exposed! Humans and AI team up to improve clickbait detection
• Focusing computational power for more accurate, efficient weather forecasts
• How many Earth-like planets are around sun-like stars?
• Professor receives NSF grant to model cell disorder in heart
• SMH! Brains trained on e-devices may struggle to understand scientific info
• Whole genome sequencing may help officials get a handle on disease outbreaks
• New tool could reduce security analysts’ workloads by automating data triage
• Careful analysis of volcano’s plumbing system may give tips on pending eruptions
• Reducing farm greenhouse gas emissions may plant the seed for a cooler planet
• Using artificial intelligence to detect discrimination
• Four ways scholars say we can cut the chances of nasty satellite data surprises
• Game theory shows why stigmatization may not make sense in modern society
• Older adults can serve communities as engines of everyday innovation
• Pig-Pen effect: Mixing skin oil and ozone can produce a personal pollution cloud
• Researchers find genes that could help create more resilient chickens
• Despite dire predictions, levels of social support remain steady in the U.S.
• For many, friends and family, not doctors, serve as a gateway to opioid misuse
• New algorithm may help people store more pictures, share videos faster
• Head named for Ken and Mary Alice Lindquist Department of Nuclear Engineering
• Scientific evidence boosts action for activists, decreases action for scientists
• People explore options, then selectively represent good options to make difficult decisions
• Map reveals that lynching extended far beyond the deep South
• Gravitational forces in protoplanetary disks push super-Earths close to stars
• Supercomputer cluster donation helps turn high school class into climate science research lab
• Believing machines can out-do people may fuel acceptance of self-driving cars
• People more likely to trust machines than humans with their private info
• IBM donates system to Penn State to advance AI research
• ICS Seed Grants to power projects that use AI, machine learning for common good
• Penn State Berks team advances to MVP Phase of Nittany AI Challenge
• Creepy computers or people partners? Working to make AI that enhances humanity
• Sky is clearing for using AI to probe weather variability
• ‘AI will see you now’: Panel to discuss the AI revolution in health and medicine
• Privacy law scholars must address potential for nasty satellite data surprises
• Researchers take aim at hackers trying to attack high-value AI models
• Girls, economically disadvantaged less likely to get parental urging to study computers
• Seed grants awarded to projects using Twitter data
• Researchers find features that shape mechanical force during protein synthesis
• A peek at living room decor suggests how decorations vary around the world
• Interactive websites may cause antismoking messages to backfire
• Changing how government assesses risk may ease fallout from extreme financial events
• Symposium at U.S. Capitol seeks solutions to election security
• ICS co-sponsors Health, Environment Seed Grant Program
• ICS Affiliate named AGU fellow
• Differences in genes’ geographic origin influence mitochondrial function