privacy in a digital age
Honors 3374 Spring 2017
Monday & Wednesday, 11:50 a.m.1:10 p.m.
MHC 1205
(801) 403-5207 (cell) / NOTE: READINGS MAY CHANGE TO REFLECT CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS
SYLLABUS
COURSE description
This course focuses on personal privacy and addresses the challenge of protecting privacy in an age of information abundance. The course addresses how new technology, coupled with an emerging ethos of sharing as manifested by the explosive growth of social networking, has empowered government, business and individuals to monitor our everyday lives and collect, aggregate, use and sell personal information on a scale never before imagined.
Is privacy dead? Or is privacy simply being redefined in our modern digital world? Will drones, ubiquitous video cameras, GPS-enabled mobile devices, and the collection of massive amounts of data by the NSA, data brokers, law enforcement and others usher in a new era of around the clock surveillance where our movements and activities are tracked by government and our neighbors alike? Will facial recognition, DNA databases and other biometric technologies render anonymity a thing of the past? Has our infatuation with sharing, as embodied by Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, Instagram and other social networking sites, fundamentally altered our definition of privacy? Will our increased concern with terrorism and national security trump our personal privacy?
These and other questions will be addressed in the context of today’s personal privacy controversies arising from our increasingly global and digitized world.
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COURSE OBJECTIVES
Upon successful completion of this course, students will, as to the topics addressed:
- Understand the philosophical, legal and policy concepts underlying a right of personal privacy.
- Understand how technology may be both a threat and an aid to modern privacy protection.
- Appreciate the privacy trade-offs that accompany various technologies designed to enhance our personal safety, national security, convenience, financial benefit and social connection.
- Gain an understanding of selected contemporary privacy policy debates in specific contexts such as national security, the workplace, school and health care.
- Understand the privacy choices we make every day, either knowingly or otherwise, and develop strategies to protect our personal privacy.
- Develop critical and reflective thinking skills that apply the substantive knowledge gained in new settings and to new issues resulting from the impact of ever changing technology on society.
Students will learn through online video lectures, completing the readings/assignments and exercises, the review and authoring of blog posts and comments and in-class discussion.
textbook & MATERIALS
There is no required textbook for this course. All readings/assignments are either online as indicated by hyperlinks in the course schedule or are posted on Canvas.
class format
A different privacy-related topic is studied each week. The course uses a modified “flipped classroom” pedagogy where the readings and other basic information about the week’s privacy topic are available online and must be viewed and studied before each class. It is outside of class where you will gain a basic understanding of the legal and policy considerations underlying the week’s topic. Actual classroom time is spent discussing and applying the applicable legal concepts in in-class exercises and reviewing student generated commentary on the week’s topic.
With some exceptions, as noted on the class schedule, each Monday class will be devoted to a discussion of the student blog post and accompanying comments and each Wednesday class will be devoted to a discussion of the Question of the Week and an in-class exercise. The lectures and readings provide the background for an informed discussion of the Monday blog topic and the Wednesday Question of the Week.
REQUIRED IN-CLASS PARTICIPATION
Learning is easier and more enriching when students and teachers are part of an engaged community. In this course, students who contribute meaningfully to that learning community will be acknowledged and rewarded.
I expect you to come to each class having (a) completed all the assigned readings/assignments; (b) posted your assigned blog post and weekly comment; and (c) posted your answer to the Question of the Week.
In addition, I expect you to be prepared to talk every class and I will call on you without prior notice. If, however, you are unprepared for any given class, for whatever reason, you should still attend and should send me an email at least one hour before class or leave me a note on the podium before class starts, and I will not call on you that day. You may use this “pass” option twice during the semester without penalty. If you do not email me or leave a note, and you are unprepared when called upon, your class participation grade will be negatively affected as set forth in the “Grading” section below.
course blog
All students are required to become a member of Professor Dryer’s 2016 Privacy in a Digital Age class blog which may be accessed at
Students may use an opaque user name to make posts and comments on the blog, provided the student is identified to the professor and classmates.
The class blog is public. The weekly student blog post and comments, the answers to the Question of the Week, the Friday Takeaways and the final research papers will be posted on this site.
REQUIRED BLOG POSTS
1.Weekly Blog Topic. Each student shall make a post of 600-800 words on the course blog relating to an assigned topic relevant to the course. You will sign up for the topics on the first day of class; posts are due on Fridays at 9:00 a.m. on the dates identified on the sign-up sheet posted on Canvas. The blog post author should be prepared to respond to questions about their post from classmates and the professor during the Monday class following their post. Blog posts require independent research and essentially are a mini-research paper.
See the “Guidelines for Student Written Product” posted on Canvas.
2.Blog Comments. Each student shall post a comment on every classmate’s blog post, which comment is due on or before midnight on the Saturday following the blog post. There is no minimum/maximum word count on comments and comments may be on the initial post or reply to another comment. The purpose of the comments is to generate an intelligent and civil discourse on the blog posting. Students may be randomly called upon to expand upon or defend their comments in the Tuesday class.
3.Question of the Week. Each Monday at 9:00 a.m., I will post a “Question of the Week” on the course blog relating to a particular privacy topic. You are required to answer the question “yes” or “no” by 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday and explain your answer in 3-5 sentences. You will need to have completed the assigned readings before responding in order to give an informed answer. Wednesday classes will be devoted to a discussion about the question and answers.
4.“What We Have Learned?” (The Weekly Takeaways). At the beginning of every Monday class, I will assign one or more of you the responsibility of identifying and describing 5-7 personal “takeaways” learned during the week. These may be new privacy related facts, circumstances, problems, principles, insights or legal concepts of which you were previously unaware or did not fully appreciate. The takeaways, which may be bullet points or brief sentence descriptions, may be drawn from class discussions, the blog posts, the readings or the questions of the week. You will post the takeaways on the course blog every Friday by 12:00 noon under the heading “Takeaways for Week No. ___ (insert number).” Each student will be required to draft the takeaways once during the semester. Other students not assigned to write the week’s takeaways are encouraged, but not required, to add to the list each week via a comment.
PRIVACY PLAN
The Personal Privacy Plan is in lieu of a course final exam or traditional research paper. It is a substantial document that you will work on throughout the semester and consists of three separate components: (1) your Privacy Philosophy, (2) your Privacy Experiment and (3) your Long Term Privacy Action Plan. A more detailed description of the Privacy Plan is posted on the Canvas course page.
GRADING
Class Attendance and Participation...... 30 max. points
Student blog post……………………………….. ….60 max. points
Weekly Takeaways...... 10 max. points
Question of the Week...... 30 max. points
Privacy Plan...... 70 max. points
200 Total Maximum Points
Your overall point total will be deducted by 5 points each time you fail to timely answer the Question of the Week or post a required comment. Unexcused absences or being unprepared when called on will also result in a 5 point reduction.
COURSE POLICIES
- Regular and thoughtful participation is expected and required in this course as part of the grade; accordingly, attendance is necessary in order to meet that requirement. If you will miss a class to participate in an official university sanctioned activity, or are otherwise absent for health or family reasons, please contact me in advance of your absence.
- Students are expected to have read and reflected on class readings/assignments in advance of class in order to ensure the relevance and thoughtfulness of their contributions, on which their success in the class depends, in part. In order to ensure further the quality of class discussions, please be in class on time and remain in class for the entire period.
- The use of cell phones, iPods, MP3 players, and other electronic media are not permitted in the classroom except in conjunction with instructional activities; computers may only be used for note taking or other class related purposes.
- The American with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that reasonable accommodations be provided for students with physical, sensory, cognitive, systemic, learning, or psychiatric disabilities. Students requiring such accommodation should speak with me at the beginning of the semester in order to make appropriate arrangements for this course. The Center for Disabled Student Services (Olpin Union, 581-5020) will also need to be informed. See the following link for more information:
- The registrar cautions students that withdrawing from a course and other registration matters are the student’s responsibility. See the following link for more information:
- In accordance with university policy (as articulated in the Student Code), academic misconductincluding cheating, fabrication of information and plagiarismis not acceptable. A student found engaging in this behavior will receive a failing grade. If at any time you are unsure whether your actions constitute academic misconduct, please see me in order to clarify the matter. See the following link for more information:
- Title IX makes it clear that violence and harassment based on sex and gender (which includes sexual orientation and gender identity/expression) is a Civil Rights offense subject to the same kinds of accountability and the same kinds of support applied to offenses against other protected categories such as race, national origin, color, religion, age, status as a person with a disability, veteran’s status or genetic information. If you or someone you know has been harassed or assaulted, you are encouraged to report it to the Title IX Coordinator in the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action, 135 Park Building, 801-581-8365, or the Office of the Dean of Students, 270 Union Building, 801-581-7066. For support and confidential consultation, contact the Center for Student Wellness, 426 SSB, 801-581-7776. To report to the police, contact the Department of Public Safety, 801-585-2677 (COPS).
OFFICE HOURS
I am available before or after class and at other times in my Honors College office by appointment. I also may always be reached by e-mail or telephone for questions or consultations.
THE UNIVERSITY HAS CREATED A COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM TO HELP STUDENTS SUCCEED AT THE UNIVERSITY AND I ENCOURAGE YOU TO AVAIL YOURSELF OF THE NUMEROUS RESOURCES AND PROGRAMS AVAILABLE AT
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