19-608   Privacy, Policy, Law & Tech

Course description

This course focuses on policy issues related to privacy from the perspectives of governments, organizations, and individuals. We will begin with a philosophical and historical study of privacy and then explore recent public policy issues. We will examine the privacy protections provided by laws and regulations--primarily in the US and EU, but also in other countries--as well as the way technology can be used to protect privacy. We will learn about privacy frameworks, regulations, and models, and study technology-related privacy concerns and mitigation for technologies and settings including online tracking, behavioral advertising, biometrics, LLMs and other AI, and surveillance. We will also examine how technology-related privacy risks can affect individuals and groups of people disproportionately.

This course is intended primarily for students and with some technical background. Programming skills are not required. This course will include a lot of reading, writing, and class discussion. Students will be able to partially tailor group projects to their skills and interests. However, all students will be expected to do some writing and some technical work. A large emphasis will be placed on research and communication skills, which will be taught throughout the course.

Learning objectives

By the end of this course, students should:

• Be able to discuss why privacy is important to society
• Be familiar with the fair information practice principles as well as the privacy law and policy landscape in the United States
• Understand the differences between privacy regulation in the US, the EU, and in several other countries; and be able to discuss different regulatory approaches to privacy
• Understand how privacy laws and regulation may continue to develop
• Be able to read, understand, and evaluate privacy policies
• Understand the mechanics of online tracking and other technologies with privacy implications
• Understand the interaction between privacy-related technologies, regulations, and online practices
• Be able to analyze a product or technology to determine its privacy implications as seen through the perspective of different stakeholders
• Be able to communicate the privacy implications of a technology with policymakers, lawyers, and engineers

Prerequisites

None