Prof. Anne Uteck Successfully Defends her Doctoral Dissertation

, Canada Research Chair in Ethics, Law & Technology, Prof. Uteck’s dissertation responds to pressing socio-legal concerns raised by an increasingly embedded, invisible and networked society by examining ubiquitous computing and proposing an alternate conceptual approach to spatial privacy so that it is capable of sustained, effective legal protection.

“I am thrilled to have successfully defended my doctoral dissertation,” she said. “This has been a fantastic experience and I am deeply grateful for all the opportunities, support and encouragement I received from the entire uOttawa law school community. I would particularly like to thank Jane Bailey, Teresa Scassa and Valerie Steeves, all truly wonderful people and outstanding scholars. I feel especially privileged to have studied with my supervisor Ian Kerr whose inspiration, leadership and support were integral to my success.”

“I was extremely proud watching Anne defend her thesis,” said Prof Kerr. “It was the first time I ever saw the Examination Chair (whose role it is to neutrally oversee the process of the examination) get so excited that he ‘just had to’ ask a question. That is how interesting Anne’s project is and it demonstrates perfectly her ability to bring the law to life.”

The completion of Prof. Uteck’s dissertation marks the culmination of a series of three successful Ph.D. defences in the past year under Prof. Kerr’s supervision, all of which were funded by SSHRC and coordinated thorough his Identity Trail project, a massive research endeavour led by several members of the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law.