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Urs Gasser

Visiting Professor of Law

Winter 2025

Urs Gasser
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Dr. Urs Gasser is the Executive Director of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and a Professor of Practice at Harvard Law School. His research and teaching activities focus on information law, policy, and society issues and the changing role of academia in the digitally networked age.

In addition to his appointments at Harvard, Dr. Gasser had visiting professorships at the Singapore Management University School of Law, the University of Zurich Faculty of Law, KEIO University (Japan) and the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland), and taught at Fudan University School of Management (China). He served as a Senior Advisor to the World Economic Forum‘s Future of the Internet Initiative, where he is a Member of the Global Future Council on New Metrics. He currently also serves as a member of the German Digital Council, appointed by Angela Merkel.

Dr. Gasser has written and edited several books on digital technology issues, and published over 100 articles in professional journals. He is the co-author of “Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives” (Basic Books, 2008 and 2016, with John Palfrey), which has been translated into 10 languages (including Chinese), co-author of “Interop: The Promise and Perils of Highly Interconnected Systems” (Basic Books, 2012, with John Palfrey), and author of a forthcoming book on the future of digital privacy. Recent book publications include Remembering and Forgetting in the Digital Age (Springer, 2018, Co-Editor) and Big Data, Health Law, and Bioethics (Cambridge University Press, 2018, Co-Editor). Additional information about his research can be found on his SSRN author page.

Current projects – several involving the Global Network of Internet & Society Centers, which he helped to incubate – focus on the governance of evolving and emerging technologies such as Cloud Computing, the Internet of Things, Augmented Reality, and Artificial Intelligence, with a particular interest in privacy and security issues and the broader implications of these technologies, including questions of agency and autonomy. As a longer-term research interest, he studies the patterns of interaction between law and innovation, and innovation with the legal system in the digital age.

Dr. Gasser frequently acts as a commentator on digital technology, policy, and society issues for the US and European media.

Education

  • LL.M. Harvard Law School, 2003
  • S.J.D. University of St. Gallen, 2001
  • Dipl. Iur. (J.D.) University of St. Gallen, 1997

Academic Appointment and Employment History

  • Professor of Practice, Harvard Law School (2013 - Present)
    Cambride, Massachusetts, United States
  • Visiting Professor, Univ. of St. Gallen (2013 - 2013)
    St. Gallen, Switzerland
  • Executive Director, Berkman Center, Harvard University (2009 - Present)
    Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
  • Visiting Professor (Part-Time), Keio University (2010 - Present)
    Faculty of Environment and Information Studies
    Tokyo, Japan
  • Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School (2009 - 2013)
    Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
  • Director Research Center for Information Law, Univ. of St. Gallen (2006 - 2008)
    St. Gallen, Switzerland
  • Associate Professor, Univ. of St. Gallen (2005 - 2008)
    St. Gallen, Switzerland

Bar Admissions

  • Switzerland (2001)

Board Memberships

  • Member of the Board, xUpery Ltd. (2015 - Present)
    Zurich, Switzerland

Honors and Awards

  • Landon H. Gammon Fellowship for academic excellence (Awards)
  • Walther Hug Foundation Prize Switzerland (Awards)
  • Rudolf Maeder Prize 2001/2002 (Awards)
  • Walther Hug Prize St. Gallen 2001/2002 (Awards)

Representative Publications

View all publications by Urs Gasser