Privacy Law

LAW3605 Privacy Law
4 Advanced Liberal Arts CreditsFrom the scandal surrounding Cambridge Analytica's alleged use of personal data from Facebook
users, Edward Snowden's whistleblowing about the NSA's surveilling the lives of average citizens,
Google's scanning email content to help marketers engage in target advertising, to police use of
DNA data on ancestry sites to track alleged criminals - we live in an age where privacy is in short
supply. Nevertheless, the U.S., and lately Europe more so, have laws that place a high value on the
privacy of their citizens. These laws try to strike a balance between honoring individual privacy, free
speech, and creating economic growth and innovation that comes from monetizing private data.
This course will explore privacy law, with a special focus on helping students cultivate the requisite
leadership skills to develop forward thinking company privacy policies, greater individual awareness
and empowerment over the use of their own data, and public policy. We will examine relevant
leading technological developments, the internet, US domestic and global privacy law, and the
cultural context in which these areas operate. Topics will include the US Constitution, free speech,
intimacy and privacy, racial and DNA profiling, health records privacy, copyright law, tort law,
wiretapping laws, anonymity, government records and public access, fair credit reporting, employer
monitoring of employees, student records privacy, and new European laws on data mining and
protection and cyber security. Note that this is also a writing intensive class, which will help
students develop and enhance their writing skills through various kinds of writing assignments.

Prerequisites: LAW1000