Kaner received a Bachelor's Degree from Brock University in 1974, having focused on mathematics and philosophy. He went on to receive a Ph.D. in experimental psychology from McMaster University in 1984, with a dissertation in the area of psychophysics (the measurement of perceptual experiences). He later attended Golden Gate University Law School, with a primary interest in the law of software quality, graduating with a J.D. in 1994.

Kaner worked as a part-time volunteer for the Santa Clara, California Department of Consumer Affairs, investigating and mediating consumer complaints. In the 1990s, he got trial experience working as a full-time volunteer Deputy District Attorney, and later counselled independent consultants, technical book writers, and independent test labs on contract and intellectual property issues as an attorney. He also did legislative work as a consumer protection advocate, including participation in the drafting of the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (as an advocate for customers and small software development firms), and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, and he participated in the United States Department of State's Advisory Committee on Private International Law: Study Group on Electronic Commerce. In 1999, he was elected to the American Law Institute, after being in practice for only five years.

This experience led him, in collaboration with David Pels, to publish Bad Software: What To Do When Software Fails in 1997. This book was intended "to help people who had bought a defective computer program, with advice on troubleshooting their own problems, interacting with technical support, reporting problems to consumer protection agencies, bringing a lawsuit in small claims court, and if necessary, hiring a lawyer to bring a formal lawsuit."

Note: a more exhaustive list is available on Kaner's own site.

Books

• (Received the Award of Excellence from the Society for Technical Communication, Northern California Technical Publications Competition.)

Articles