LAW 639LEC - Information Privacy Law

It is impossible these days to live our lives without leaving behind a trail of deeply personal digital information. The most intimate details of our lives our movements, our communications, our health and genetic information , what we read, what we search for, and who we are connected to are all recorded in massive databases that are usually controlled by private companies, accessible to the government, and liable to hacked or breached by individuals. This state of affairs raises profound concerns about the information privacy rights of individuals. It also creates significant questions about the legal obligations of corporations and governments with respect to the personal information that they collect, store, and disseminate. This course will provide an introduction to the major legal frameworks that govern information privacy. In the course of studying the applicable laws, we will probe some of the foundational questions that our new information society raises: Why care about privacy at all? How should we balance privacy against potentially competing values like freedom of expression, security, and convenience? Should we be more concerned about privacy threats from corporations or from governments? And what kinds of protection or remedies can the law provide where private data is breached, hacked, or spilled? This course will be assessed using several short writing assignments due over the course of the semester along with a final examination. A research paper option, in lieu of the final exam, may be available by special arrangement, with advance permission of the instructor.

Credits: 3