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Commons Lab releases report on liability for digital volunteers in disasters

The CommonsLab is proud to announce the release of a report by Ed Robson evaluating liability issues in social media and crowdsourcing.

Responding to Liability

Author: Ed Robson, Esq. Editors: Lea Shanley and Aaron Lovell. Written on behalf of the Commons Lab, Science and Technology Innovation Program, Woodrow Wilson Center, with the support of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and CrisisCommons.

Major emergencies and crises can overwhelm local resources. In the last several years, self-organized digital volunteers have begun leveraging the power of social media and “crowd-mapping” for collaborative crisis response.  Rather than mobilizing a physical response, these digital volunteer groups have responded virtually by creating software applications, monitoring social networks, aggregating data, and creating “crowdsourced” maps to assist both survivors and the formal response community.  These virtual responses can subject digital volunteers to tort liability. This report evaluates the precise contours of potential liability for digital volunteers. 

About the Author

Edward S. Robson, Esq.

Attorney, Robson & Robson, LLC and volunteer Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) with the Radnor Fire Company
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Science and Technology Innovation Program

The Science and Technology Innovation Program (STIP) serves as the bridge between technologists, policymakers, industry, and global stakeholders.  Read more