When Karen discovered at a young age that she had a life threatening
heart condition, the last thing she expected was to have to worry about
software. Now, with a heart device implanted in her body, she has come
to understand not only how vulnerable medical devices are but how we are
making critical choices about software that will have huge societal
impact. Karen will talk about the hacks which show how essential free
and open source software is and will discuss her professional and
personal view of the issues both as a patient and as a cyborg lawyer.
Karen will also touch on potential avenues for accountability,
transparency, and access to remedies as we hurtle towards an Internet of
Things built on proprietary source code that prevents us from knowing
exactly how these vital devices work, what data they are collecting and
to what ends, what their vulnerabilities might be, and the extent to
which their closed, proprietary nature keeps us from developing societal
mechanisms and review processes to keep us safe.
