Kimberly A. Houser

Kimberly A. Houser is an author and Business Law professor who researches and presents on the legal aspects of emerging technologies. Houser made national headlines last fall for her study examining ways that the IRS is breaking privacy and data security laws by data mining citizens' information from social media as well as commercial and public data pools. She also recently participated at Sci Foo 2018 at Facebook headquarters and has been invited to speak at SXSW in Austin Texas on her research involving artificial intelligence and privacy law. She is the author of The Legal Guide to Social Media, a creator of digital media content for Pearson’s Business Law online curriculum, and has been published in the Vanderbilt Journal of Technology and Entertainment, Journal of Taxation, Tax Notes, and the Tax Adviser. She is the recipient of the Dean’s Excellence Award – Carson College of Business (2017 and 2016) and Exceptional Professor Award – ASWSU (2016). Kimberly is the only professor from the Carson College of Business to serve on a committee which was awarded a Multi-Disciplinary Seed Grant for marijuana research by the Office of Research in the Grand Challenge competition, and was named one of four finalists in the Charles M. Hewitt Master Teach Competition by the American Legal Studies in Business organization. When Kimberly is not teaching and advising students, researching legal issues relating to privacy and big data, or discussing how the IRS is stalking us, she loves playing fantasy football. One of her proudest moments was serving as a Guest Football Coach for the WSU football team.

The inception of this book began years ago, when Kimberly was searching for a legal guide she could recommend to her business clients who were beginning to set up websites and discovered that there were not any such books out there. She started putting together a notebook with a collection of articles, cases, and blog posts covering the legal issues involved in taking a business online. When she learned that more and more of her clients were posting content on social media and other websites, she added that information as well. She was shocked to discover clients posting false reviews of their services, copying from other websites without authorization, and collecting personal information from their customers without informing them of the collection activities. She realized at this point that the legal issues were much larger than her clients understood. Because of the recent explosion in social media usage, she turned her notebook into manuscript in order to share the information she collected.

Kimberly is passionate about educating and helping people. She will often talk with her clients for hours, discussing their problems and concerns (even when their “official” time is up). She wrote the Legal Guide to Social Media because there are no other books like it. She wants not only her clients, but also all users of social media to become aware of the risks in posting content. Because of the increasing numbers and sizes of judgments in this area of law, she feels strongly about educating the public and making these simple protection strategies available to everyone. Kimberly lives in Pullman, Washington. She enjoys Words with Friends, many outdoor activities, and discussing libertarian ideals.