Volume 57 of The University of Memphis Law Review Symposium seeks to explore the evolving individual right to privacy in the modern digital age and how the current legal landscape of privacy rights might change to better support an individual’s right to privacy.

Generation Z (“Gen Z”) is the first generation to have cell phones, the internet, and social media fully integrated into everyday life since childhood. As Gen Z enters the workforce alongside Millennials, they will play a significant role in shaping the trajectory of our digital society. In a 2024 multi-country survey of more than five-thousand Gen Z voters, 88.8% of the survey participants identified the right to privacy as the most important human right among ten rights presented.[1] As the next generation of leaders increasingly affirms privacy as a fundamental right, the legal framework must continue to adapt to the complexities of rapidly evolving technology.

Privacy concerns the individual’s ability to maintain control over personal information and to exercise meaningful autonomy over how that information is collected, used, shared, or interpreted. Privacy operates as a safeguard for personal agency and self-determination. In the modern digital world, individuals routinely interact with artificial intelligence tools and surveillance technologies capable of collecting, analyzing, and disseminating vast quantities of personal data. Information ranging from health records and biometric data to online activity and social media preferences are continuously generated and processed every day. Although this data can yield valuable benefits, it also raises serious concerns about whether existing legal protections are sufficient to secure individual rights within an increasingly data-driven society.

The University of Memphis Law Review hosts its annual symposium every spring at the Law School. For more information about the most recent past topics and speakers, please visit the links below.

2026: America’s 250^th Birthday – Will Due Process Be At The Party?

2025: The Ripple Effect: Examining the Supreme Court's Impact on the Public's Confidence in the Judicial Branch

2024: The Path of Least Resistance: How Marginalized Communities Are Targeted By Harmful Infrastructure and Land Uses

2023: (How Much) Should We Pay Them? The Shifting Legal Landscape of Collegiate Competition

2022: Competition in the 21st Century: Can Existing Antitrust Laws Govern a 21st Century Digital Economy?

2021: Diagnosing America's Healthcare System: Addressing Costs and Access Now

2019: Barriers at the Ballot Box: Protecting or Limiting the Core of the American Identity?

2018: The American Addiction: Pathways to Address the Opioid Crisis

2017 - The Fragile Fortress: Judicial Independence in the 21st Century

2016 - Urban Revitalization: The Legal Implications of Remaking a City

2015 - In re Valor: Policy and Action in Veterans Legal Aid

2014 - Juvenile Courts in Transition