Dr Jessica Shurson is an Assistant Professor in Law in the School of Law, Politics and Sociology (LPS) at the University of Sussex. Her research is focused on the balance of security and privacy in the context of digital investigations and cybercrime law. 

Dr Shurson's work considers the legal and policy issues surrounding law enforcement access to data across borders. It explores concepts of jurisdiction in international law, the extraterritorial application of human rights, and the conflicts of laws that result when government authorities obtain data with a cross-border element. Her forthcoming book, "Transnational Digital Investigations: Regulating Extraterritoriality, Investigative Jurisdiction, and Conflicts of Law" (Routledge 2026), addresses these critical legal tensions. 

Her recent publications include analyses of law enforcement access to encrypted data across borders, the emergence of a European right to end-to-end encryption, and the competing demands of data protection laws and criminal investigations. Dr. Shurson also maintains "Issues in Cybercrime Law," a blog/newsletter exploring developments in cybercrime law and digital investigations.

Before joining Sussex in 2022, Dr. Shurson was a doctoral researcher at Queen Mary University of London, where she completed her PhD titled "Rethinking Comity: Resolving Jurisdictional Conflicts in Transnational Digital Investigations." Her academic career follows eight years as an Assistant District Attorney General for the State of Tennessee, where she specialised in prosecuting sex crimes and crimes against children.