Law and Policy for the Quantum Age

Abstract

It is often said that quantum technologies are poised to change the world as we know it, but cutting through the hype, what will quantum technologies actually mean for countries and their citizens? In Law and Policy for the Quantum Age, Chris Jay Hoofnagle and Simson L. Garfinkel explain the genesis of quantum information science (QIS) and the resulting quantum technologies that are most exciting: quantum sensing, computing, and communication. This groundbreaking, timely text explains how quantum technologies work, how countries will likely employ QIS for future national defense and what the legal landscapes will be for these nations, and how companies might (or might not) profit from the technology. Hoofnagle and Garfinkel argue that the consequences of QIS are so profound that we must begin planning for them today.

Own the Unknown: An Anticipatory Approach to Prepare Society for the Quantum Age

“…This could have implications for all sorts of efficiency gains in diverse domains. Although the potential of quantum computers for machine learning is a source of excitement, the prospect of an advantage in solving classical problems is still unclear (Huang et al, 2021;Hoofnagle & Garfinkel, 2022).…”

“…In quantum communication, quantum states are used to encode messages -or to crack them. This highlights the dual-use character of quantum technology: large enough quantum computers will be able to decode nearly all of today's encryption, disrupting the security of much of the open internet and digital economy (De Wolf, 2017;Hoofnagle & Garfinkel, 2022). On the other hand, quantum communication could enhance information security by producing complex encryption keys (i.e.…”

“…On the other hand, quantum communication could enhance information security by producing complex encryption keys (i.e. quantum encryption) and uncovering message interception by the entanglement of a message and its receiver and could potentially benefit privacy by bypassing the collection of meta-data (Hoofnagle & Garfinkel, 2022). In the near future, the most impact is expected from this subfield of quantum cryptography.…”

“…Besides the organisational readiness, it is both key and challenging to organise the supporting technologies that well-functioning quantum applications depend on, such as conventional computers, high-end hardware and cloud services. Some expect, for example, that quantum computing is most likely to be brought to end-users as a cloud service (Möller & Vuik, 2017;Hoofnagle & Garfinkel, 2022). The 'quantum computing envelope' in that case thus includes the presence of sufficient cloud capacities.…”

Quantum Computing, Digital Constitutionalism, and the Right to Encryption: Perspectives from Brazil

“…A last aspect worth consideration is the regulation of decryption. Hoofnagle and Garfinkel suggest that regulators should consider forbidding the decryption of third parties' data, since quantum technologies will not be democratically distributed for some time (Hoofnagle & Garfinkel, 2022). The authors also highlight the importance of the limitation of the retention of personal data to mitigate the impact of data breaches due to vulnerability to quantum cryptoanalysis (Hoofnagle & Garfinkel, 2022, p. 131).…”