Int/Compar Privacy Surveill

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

This course is the undergrad version of CCTP-6032. Every day, the news brings forth accounts of fresh privacy infringements and threats emanating from government agencies, corporate entities, and individuals. These actors gather and leverage information, both self-disclosed and shared by others, through a vast array of connected devices permeating society. New technologies force us to question how a balance can be struck between privacy and security, innovation and the rights of others. In this time of information policy influx, untangling old laws, new regulatory proposals, waves of best practices, and realistic enforcement is incredibly challenging and the subject of this course. International & Comparative Privacy and Surveillance will provide students with the theoretical and policy tools and comparative skills necessary to engage in public policy issues involving privacy and surveillance in a global context. The course will first introduce major theories of information privacy and surveillance studies. The majority of the course will be comparative. We will discuss international efforts to govern privacy and surveillance issues, and then students will delve into chosen topics to more deeply understand privacy and surveillance in the 21st Century.