Information Privacy
Professor Ari Ezra Waldman
he/him/hisCourse Description
This interdisciplinary course is about us, our data, and the myriad ways in which websites, the government, and even our friends pose threats to our privacy. We will touch on the development of tort, contract, statutory, and constitutional law, and we will address several questions throughout the class, including: How, if at all, can we protect information known to some others? How has technology changed our relationships with each other and with the government? Can traditional privacy rules and laws accommodate today's needs?
We will begin by discussing theories of privacy to which we will refer throughout the entire course. Then, we will discuss issues of privacy and disclosure by the media and by other private citizens. We then turn to informational capitalism, AI, ad targeting, and more. We will always discuss privacy in terms of power. This is not a class for those who are looking to go through a casebook case by case. Nor will we just go statute by statute. We will situate technology, human behavior, and law in its social context, consider the ways in which surveillance burdens marginalized populations, and critically approach new proposals for comprehensive privacy law, all with an eye toward asking questions of power: who has it, who doesn't, and how is the law involved?
We meet on Mondays, from 9-1150 AM (with a break) in 3-09.
CONTACT: My email address is a.waldman@northeastern.edu. My office hours are either before class or online at a time TBD. I will provide a calendly link to make an appointment.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this semester, you should ...
Know and understand the law of information privacy;
Analyze, reason, and solve problems related to information disclosure, online harassment, data-extractive capitalism, and government surveillance; and
Understand information privacy law in its social context.
Reading
Participation
Rules & Regs
All required reading is linked.
My book, Industry Unbound, though amazing (I'm biased), is entirely optional.
As the semester unfolds, I will supplement, subtract, revise the readings based on our interests, the news, and our pace. I appreciate the flexibility and I hope you will too.
Please note that I have provided questions to guide your reading. You will find them on the next page. These are not assignments that you have to hand in; no one will see your answers save you, assuming you write them down. However, they may help focus your reading on the topics and skills we will discuss in class. You should not restrict yourself to answering these questions, but you may use them as guides.
Participation is essential for success in this class and in law school generally. I will rarely, if ever, just lecture to you. Class is a discussion among all members of our community, and you should come to class prepared to participate. We will use panels to diversity participation.
Being prepared for class means the following:
1. You did the reading ... of course. Sometimes, you read it more than once.
2. You reflected on the readings through the questions in the text.
3. You looked up any terms you didn't understand.
4. You came to class with your readings annotated and your notes available.
Professionalism
We will maintain a courteous and professional learning environment. Professionalism means many things. For example, it means answering questions using appropriate tone and language. It means handing in assignments that reflect the same. Most importantly, it means treating everyone with respect. We are all in this together.
Recording Devices
I do not record classes. Period. This protects everyone's privacy. This also means that you are NOT PERMITTED to record class in any way.
Final Exam
The final exam is an ANY DAY TAKE HOME EXAM. It is due by 9 AM Eastern time on the final day of exam period. Below, you will see the questions. CHOOSE ONLY ONE to answer in a 7-10 page essay that includes a clear thesis, guideposts, supporting arguments and evidence, and a conclusion. A 7-10 page essay means that I will stop reading at the end of page 10, no exceptions. Editing is an important skill. We will discuss what a thesis is in class. The essay should be double-spaced, 1-inch margins all around, 12-pt font size, written in Times New Roman. Click HERE to find an example of a really good introduction to a paper like this. We will go over this in class.
1. Describe three ways in which current privacy law--in tort, consumer, statutory, or constitutional law--is either insufficiently protective of or harmful to marginalized populations. Then discuss at least one idea for reform to address at least some of that problem. You may focus on one or multiple populations. Answer by using cases, scholarship, current events, and any other materials. Additional research beyond class materials will be necessary.
2. What is a common theme (e.g. but not limited to, same questions, same standards for resolving disputes or problems, same gaps, same doctrinal approaches, etc.) that run through privacy tort, consumer, and constitutional law? What are some of the effects of that common theme, that is, does it tilt privacy law toward reifying or redistributing power, protect certain interests over others, etc.? Answer by using cases, scholarship, current events, and any other materials. Additional research beyond class materials will be necessary.
3. Algorithmic technologies can incentivize data collection, reify traditional structures of power, and entrench discrimination. We discussed many AI-based algorithmic technologies in class, and many more are easily accessible via scholarly research. Choose a single context in which an algorithmic decision-making system is used by private or public actors and, using evidence from actual cases, scholarship, and current news, demonstrate precisely how these technologies have the effect of reifying traditional structures of power. Answer by using cases, scholarship, current events, and any other materials. Additional research beyond class materials will be necessary.
Office Hours
Please sign up for office hours (most Mondays, 330 - 500 PM) here: https://calendly.com/ariezrawaldman/office-hours