June 20, 2013 Update: This position has been filled. To learn of new opportunities at the Berkman Center, sign up for our jobs listserv.
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University is looking for a full-time legal fellow to join our Privacy Tools for Sharing Research Data Project.
A position description for the fellowship opportunity can be found below and on the Harvard Human Resources website.
Please note that applications for this fellowship must be submitted through the Harvard Human Resources website, and will not be collected directly through the Berkman Center.
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Fellow, Privacy Tools for Sharing Research Data project, Berkman Center for Internet & Society
Duties & Responsibilities
Working collaboratively with faculty from the Berkman Center for Internet & Society and partnering institutions, the fellow’s primary responsibilities are to provide managerial support and substantive contributions to the Berkman Center’s role in the Privacy Tools for Sharing Research Data Project, including but not limited to:
- working closely with faculty from the Berkman Center to coordinate, oversee, and conduct legal research, written project outputs, and publications;
- cultivating and supporting relationships between faculty and other experts in law, social science, applied mathematics, computer science, and other fields to understand non-legal substantive issues and objectives, assess needs and capabilities, and collaboratively develop new legal instruments (e.g., contractual agreements, policies, and procedures) to meet the project’s broader goals;
- planning, communicating, and implementing privacy-related workshops and convenings;
- managing the selection, oversight, and mentorship of student interns and research assistants;
- developing plans and timelines to advance project priorities and meet deadlines; and
- providing additional project support.
This is a great opportunity for experienced legal practitioners who want to serve the public interest, transition to academic pursuits, or work in an intellectually invigorating environment, and the role is positioned be part of the fellows community at the Berkman Center. In order to most fully and efficiently carry out his or her duties, the candidate will attend workshops and conferences at the Center and at Harvard Law School, and will have frequent opportunities to expand his/her knowledge of technology and law. The community of fellows at the Center includes a wide range of people working on issues related to Internet and society, including scholars, practitioners, innovators and others committed to understanding and advancing the public interest. The Berkman Center fellowship program aims to encourage and support fellows in an inviting and rigorous intellectual environment, with community activities designed to foster inquiry and collaboration. Berkman's committed and tight-knit community encourages serious fun and creativity, supports deep inquiry, values novel approaches to solving problems, strives for transparency, continually builds upon best-practices and lessons learned, and is supportive of individual and collective goals. We look forward to growing our community with people who will thrive in and contribute to our unique, fulfilling environment.
The annual salary is $48,000, and includes health and other benefits.
The fellow will report directly to the Clinical Professor/Director of the Cyberlaw Clinic. As with all Berkman Center positions, this is a term appointment funded through 6/30/14 with strong potential for continuation based on funding and institutional need. The position is based in Cambridge, MA.
Basic Qualifications
Candidates must have a Juris Doctor or an equivalent law degree and 1-3 years of experience in legal practice or academia working with Internet and privacy law matters.
Candidates should be energetic and passionate about working on privacy and cyberlaw issues. Top academic credentials, superior writing and verbal skills, sound judgment, exceptional ethical standards, and proven abilities in interpersonal communication, supervision, and team building are required.
Additional Qualifications
Demonstrable knowledge, including a degree or practical experience, of data privacy and security issues in fields such as applied mathematics, cryptography, or computer science is preferred.
Candidates should also possess a strong familiarity with privacy-related statutes, regulations, legislative activity, and policy as well as practice experience with transactions involving data privacy. Previous experience in a clinical legal setting or the direct supervision and mentoring of young attorneys is advantageous.
Additional Information
About the Privacy Tools for Sharing Research Data Project
Information technology, advances in statistical computing, and the deluge of data available through the Internet are transforming social science. With the ability to collect and analyze massive amounts of data on human behavior and interactions, social scientists can hope to uncover many more phenomena, with greater detail and confidence, than allowed by traditional means such as surveys and interviews. However, a major challenge for computational social science is maintaining the privacy of human subjects. Beyond harm that may be suffered by the subjects themselves, privacy violations are a serious threat to the future of computational social science research.
Led collaboratively by Harvard University’s Center for Research on Computation and Society (CRCS) at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Institute for Quantitative Social Science (IQSS), and Berkman Center for Internet & Society, with support from the Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC) program at the National Science Foundation, the Privacy Tools for Sharing Research Data project seeks to develop methods, tools, and policies to further the tremendous value that can come from collecting, analyzing, and sharing data while more fully protecting individual privacy.
Faculty co-director and Clinical Professor Phil Malone leads the Berkman Center’s role in this exciting initiative, which brings the Center’s institutional knowledge and practical experience to help tackle the legal and policy-based issues in the larger project. The Berkman Center is working with Berkman faculty, fellows, research assistants, and the CRCS and IQSS project team members to distill key definitional issues, explore new and existing legal and regulatory frameworks, and develop legal instruments that take into account the specific needs of researchers, research subjects, and data, while enabling reliable mechanisms for protecting privacy, transparency, and accountability.
For more information about the project, visit the Berkman Center website at http://cyber.harvard.edu or the official project website at http://privacytools.seas.harvard.edu/.
About the Berkman Center for Internet & Society
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University is a research program founded to explore cyberspace, share in its study, and help pioneer its development. Founded in 1997, through a generous gift from Jack N. and Lillian R. Berkman, the Center is home to an ever-growing community of faculty, fellows, staff, and affiliates working on projects that span the broad range of intersections between cyberspace, technology, and society. More information can be found at http://cyber.harvard.edu.
Commitment to Diversity
The work and well-being of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University are strengthened profoundly by the diversity of our network and our differences in background, culture, experience, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, and much more. We actively seek and welcome applications from people of color, women, the LGBTQ community, and persons with disabilities, as well as applications from researchers and practitioners from across the spectrum of disciplines and methods.
To Apply
More information and the official Harvard Human Resource position listing can be found online, and applications must be submitted through the official Harvard channels described at the listing: https://sjobs.brassring.com/1033/asp/tg/cim_jobdetail.asp?jobId=923216&PartnerId=25240&SiteId=5341&type=mail&JobReqLang=1&recordstart=1&JobSiteId=5341&JobSiteInfo=923216_5341&gqid=0