Special Topics in Technology Studies: Digital Media and Privacy
E57.3150
Wednesday 3:20 - 5:30 pm
Call number: 43175 (4 credits)
Spring 2010
Helen Nissenbaum, Department of Media, Culture, and Communication

Digital technologies have dramatically altered the shape of communications and information flows in societies, enabling massive transformations in the capacity to monitor behavior, to amass and analyze personal information, and to distribute, publish, communicate and disseminate it. As a result, some would claim, they have radically and irrevocably diminished privacy and provoked social anxiety, inspiring new laws and policies, widespread advocacy efforts, and technical responses aimed at mitigating and resisting their impacts.

All of this falls within the scope of the seminar, which undertakes a multi-faceted, multi-disciplinary examination of the relationship between privacy and technology, extending back to applications of old technologies such as photography and wiretaps but focusing on technical innovations in digital media and information sciences from databases and video surveillance to biometrics, the Web, social networks, and more. Because it is hardly ever possible to draw a straight line between technology and social implication, our study will be broadly encompassing, including in its scope the people, practices, institutions, and vested interests that have supported the application of technologies to monitor people, store information about them, and predict, even shape their actions. That is to say, we will be studying the relationship between privacy and key socio-technical systems.

Readings for the seminar will reflect the multi-disciplinarity of scholarly and research literatures on privacy, drawn from moral and political philosophy, law, computer science, media and communications studies, sociology, policy studies, and more. In addition to covering a sample of this literature -- now quite vast -- students will stake out sub-areas of particular interest, conduct self-directed research, and present their findings to the group. Examples might include privacy in communications, in social networks, in media and journalism; privacy and surveillance; privacy of citizens in relation to governments, to the global corporate sector, to online commercial actors; or in relation to health, medical, psychiatric and genetic information.

Texts

Nissenbaum, H. (2009) Privacy in Context: Technology, Policy, and the Integrity of Social Life (Stanford: Stanford University Press)
Regan, P. (1995) Legislating Privacy: Technology, Social Values, and Public Policy

Other required readings will be posted on the Blackboard Course Homepage

Requirements & Grading

Student engagement is key to a successful seminar.

Participation: Students will select topics and readings for which they will have primary responsible at weekly meetings of the seminar. It goes without saying that readings should be completed before each meeting.

Research paper: Over the course of the semester, students will develop a question, conduct research, and write a term paper of approximately 15-20 pages. We will establish a timetable for specific milestones, including, locating an area of concern; articulating a question; producing an annotated bibliography; and completing a draft. This will be done in discussion with instructor and other seminar participants.

Schedule
Jan 20	SEMINAR INTRODUCTION
	Case discussion
	Greenhouse, L., Into the Closet
	Liptak, A., Supreme Court Takes Texting Case
Jan 27	PRIVACY, TECHNOLOGY, SOCIETY
	Readings
	Nissenbaum, Privacy in Context (Introduction and Part One)
	Winner, Do Artifacts Have Politics
	Latour, Where Are the Missing Masses
	Weinberg, Can Technology Replace Social Engineering?
Feb 3	INTEREST BRAWLS
	Readings
	United States Department of Health, Education & Welfare. 1973. Records, Computers, and the Rights of Citizens. Summary and Recommendations
	Regan, Legislating Privacy (Chapter 5)
	Marx, A Tack in the Shoe
	Brin, Transparent Society (Selections)
	Gandy, Toward a Political Economy of Information
	Posner, An Economic Theory of Privacy
	EPIC.org website: Read up on cases, including LotusMarketplace Households, complaints against Doubleclick
Feb 10	PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS, JUSTIFICATORY FRAMEWORKS
	Readings
	Nissenbaum, Privacy in Context (Intro to Section Two and Chapter 4)
	Reiman, Driving to the Panopticon
	Van den Hoven, Privacy and the Varieties of Informational Wrongdoing
	Gavison, Privacy and the Limits of the Law
	Cohen, The Examined Life
	Regan, Legislating Privacy (chapter 4)
Feb 17	PRIVACY AND SOCIETY
	Readings
	Post, The Social Foundations of Privacy
	Regan, Legislating Privacy (Chapter 8)
Feb 24	PRIVACY LAW, LANDSCAPE, TORTS
	Readings
	Warren and Brandeis, The Right to Privacy
	Prosser, Privacy
	Solove, The Origins and Growth of Information Privacy Law
March 3:	NO REGULAR CLASS
Mar 10	PRIVACY LAW, CONSTITUTION, FOURTH AMENDMENT
	Readings
	Kerr (O), The Case for the Third-Party Doctrine
	Friewald, A First Principles Approach to Communications Privacy
	Kerr (I) and McGill, Emanations, Snoop Dogs and Reasonable Expectations of Privacy
	Kerr (I) et. al., Tessling on My Brain
	Nissenbaum, Privacy in Context (Chapters 5,6)
Mar 17	SPRING RECESS
Mar 24	TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY
	Readings
	Pfaffenberger, Technological Dramas
	Introna, Towards a Post-Human Intra-Actional Account of Socio-Technical Agency
	Orlikowski and Barley, Technology and Institutions
Mar 31	CONTEXTUAL INTEGRITY
	Readings
	Nissenbaum, Privacy in Context (Part 3)
Apr 7	DATA AGGREGATION, MINING, PROFILING
	Readings
	Gandy, Coming to Terms with the Panoptic Sort
	Lyon, Data, Discrimination, Dignity
	Vedder, KDD: The Challenge to Individualism
	Zarsky, Mine Your Own Business
Apr 14	WEB 2.0, BLOGS, SOCIAL NETWORKS
	Readings
	Allen-Castelitto, Coercing Privacy
	Gajda, Judging Journalism: The Turn toward Privacy and Judicial Regulation of the Press
	Miscellaneous postings online
	boyd, danah, Making Sense of Privacy and Publicity
Apr 21	SURVEILLANCE, CULTURAL CONTENT, TRACKING, ADVERTISING
	Readings
	Lyon, Surveillance (Selections)
	Kerr (I), Hacking@Privacy: Anti-Curcumvention Laws, DRM and the Piracy of Personal information
	Cohen, A Right to Read Anonymously
Apr 28	IDENTITY, IDENTIFICATION, ANONYMITY, RESISTANCE
	Readings
	Levy, Crypto-Rebels
	Clark, J., Gauvin, P. and C. Adams, Exit Node Repudiation for Anonymity Networks
	Doe, J., What's in a Name? Who Benefits from the Publication Ban in Sexual Assault Trials?
	Froomkin, M., Anonymity and the Law in the United States
	Froomkin, M., Identity Cards and Identity Romanticism
	C. Lucock and K. Black, Anonymity and the Law in Canada
	Nissenbaum, H. and D. Howe, TrackMeNot: Resisting Surveillance in Web Search
Course Bibliography
	Allen-Castellitto, A. "Coercing Privacy." William and Mary Law Review, 40, 1999, 723-757.
	Barnes, R. "Supreme Court will Decide Whether Employees Text Messages are Private," The Washington Post. December 15, 2009.
	boyd, danah. 2010. “Making Sense of Privacy and Publicity.” SXSW. Austin, Texas, March 13.
	Brin, D., "Privacy Under Siege." The Transparent Society, 3-26. New York: Perseus Books, 1998, 54-88.
	Brin, D., "The Challenge of an Open Society." The Transparent Society. New York: Perseus Books, 1998, 3-26.
	Clark, J., Gauvin, P. and C. Adams, “Exit Node Repudiation for Anonymity Networks,” Lessons from the Identity Trail: Anonymity, Privacy, and Identity in a Networked Society. Eds I. Kerr, C. Lucock, & V. Steeves, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009, 399-416.
	Cohen, J. "A Right to Read Anonymously: A Closer Look at 'Copyright Management' In Cyberspace," Connecticut Law Review, 28, 1996, 981-1039.
	Cohen, J. "Examined Lives: Informational Privacy and the Subject as Object." Stanford Law Review, 52, 2000, 1373-1438.
	Doe, J. “What's in a Name? Who Benefits from the Publication Ban in Sexual Assault Trials?” Lessons from the Identity Trail: Anonymity, Privacy, and Identity in a Networked Society. Eds I. Kerr, C. Lucock and V. Steeves, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009, 265-281.
	Freiwald, S. "A First Principles Approach to Communications Privacy," Stanford Technology Law Review. 3, 2007
	Froomkin, M. “Anonymity and the Law in the United States,” Lessons from the Identity Trail: Anonymity, Privacy, and Identity in a Networked Society. (Eds) I. Kerr, C. Lucock, and V. Steeves, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009, 441-464.
	Froomkin, M. “Identity Cards and Identity Romanticism,” Lessons from the Identity Trail: Anonymity, Privacy, and Identity in a Networked Society. (Eds) I. Kerr, C. Lucock, and V. Steeves, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009, 246-263.
	Gajda, A. "Judging Journalism: The Turn toward Privacy and Judicial Regulation of the Press," California Law Review, 97(1039), 2009, 1039-1106.
	Gandy, O. 1996. "Coming to Terms with the Panoptic Sort," In Computers, Surveillance, and Privacy, edited by D. Lyon and E. Zureik. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.
	Gandy, O. 1993. The Panoptic Sort: A Political Economy of Personal Information. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
	Gandy, O. "Toward a Political Economy of Personal Information." Critical Studies in Media Communication, 10(1), 1993, 70-97.
	Gavison, R. "Privacy and the Limits of Law," The Yale Law Journal, 89(3), 1980, 421-471.
	Greenhouse, L. "Into the Closet," The New York Times. January 14, 2010.
	Hildebrandt, M. "Who is Profiling Who? Invisible Visibility," Reinventing Data Protection Springer Business Media, 2009, 239-252.
	Introna, L. "Towards a Post-human Intra-actional Account of Socio-technical Agency (and Morality)." Moral Agency and Technical Artefacts Scientific Workshop, NIAS, Hague, 2007.
	Kerr, I. "Hacking@Privacy: Anti-Circumvention Laws, DRM and the Piracy of Personal Information," (2005) Canadian Privacy Law Review, I, 25-34.
	Kerr, I., Binnie, M., and C. Aoki, "Tessling On My Brain: The Future of Lie Detection and Brain Privacy in the Criminal Justice System," Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 2008, 1-17.
	Kerr, I. and J. McGill, "Emanations, Snoop Dogs and Reasonable Expectations of Privacy," Criminal Law Quarterly, 52(3), 2007, 392-432.
	Kerr, O. "The Case for the Third-Party Doctrine," Michigan Law Review, 107, 2009, 1-49.
	Latour, B. "Where Are the Missing Masses? The Sociology of a Few Mundane Artifacts." Shaping Technology/Building Society. Ed. W. Bijker and J. Law. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1992, 225-258.
	Levy, S. "Crypto Rebels," High Noon on the Electronic Frontier. Ed. Peter Ludlow. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1996, 185-205.
	Liptak, A. "Supreme Court Takes Texting Case," The New York Times. December 15, 2009.
	C. Lucock and K. Black, “Anonymity and the Law in Canada,” Lessons from the Identity Trail: Anonymity, Privacy, and Identity in a Networked Society. (Eds) I. Kerr, C. Lucock, and V. Steeves, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009, 465-483.
	Lyon, D. "A Sociology of Information," in C. Calhoun, C. Rojek and B. Turner (eds.) The Sage Handbook of Sociology, London, Thousand Oaks and New Delhi: Sage, 2005.
	Lyon, D. "Data, Discrimination, Dignity," Surveillance Studies: An Overview. Malden, MA: Polity Press, 2007, 179-197.
	Lyon, D. "Surveillance (Selections)" Surveillance Studies: An Overview. Malden, MA: Polity Press, 2007, 9-70.
	Marx, G. "A Tack in the Shoe: Neutralizing and Resisting the New Surveillance," Journal of Social Issues, 59(2), 2003, 369-390.
	Nissenbaum, H. and D. Howe, “TrackMeNot: Resisting Surveillance in Web Search,” Lessons from the Identity Trail: Anonymity, Privacy, and Identity in a Networked Society. (Eds) I. Kerr, C. Lucock, and V. Steeves, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
	Orlikowski, W. and S. Barley, "Technology and Institutions: What Can Research on Information Technology and Research on Organizations Learn from Each Other?" MIS Quarterly. 25(2), 2001, 145-165.
	Pfaffenberger, B. "Technological Dramas." Science, Technology, & Human Values, 17 (3), 1992, 282-312.
	Pinch, T. "Technology and Institutions: Living in a Material World." Theory & Society, 37(5), 2008, 461-483.
	Posner, R. A. "An Economic Theory of Privacy." Regulation, 2(3), 1978, 19-26.
	Post, R. "The Social Foundations of Privacy: Community and Self in the Common Law Tort," California Law Review. 77(5), 1989, 957-1010.
	Prosser, W. "Privacy." California Law Review, 48(3), 1960, 383-423.
	Regan, P. "Communication Privacy: Transmitting Our Message." Legislating Privacy. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1995,
	Regan, P. "Chapter 4: Information Privacy: Recording Our Transactions." Legislating Privacy. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1995, 69-108.
	Regan, P. "Chapter 8: Privacy and the Common Good: Implications for Public Policy." Legislating Privacy. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1995, 212-243.
	Reiman, J. 1995. "Driving to the Panopticon: A Philosophical Exploration of the Risks to Privacy Posed by the Highway Technology of the Future." Santa Clara Computer and High Technology Law Journal, 11 (1): 27-44.
	Sassen, S. "Towards a Sociology of Information Technology," Current Sociology. 50(3), 2002, 365-388.
	Solove, D. "A Taxonomy of Privacy." University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 154, no. 3 (2006): 477-564.
	Solove, D. "The Origins and Growth of Information Privacy Law," PLI/PAT, 748, 2003, 29.
	"Summary and Recommendations from Records, Computers, and the Rights of Citizens." Report of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Automated Personal Data Systems. U. S. Department of Health, Education & Welfare. (Copyright by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1973).
	Van den Hoven, J. "Privacy and the Varieties of Informational Wrongdoing." Computer Ethics. Ed. John Weckert. Hampshire, England: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2007, 317-330.
	Vedder, A. "KDD: The Challenge to Individualism." Ethics and Information Technology, 1, 1999, 275-281.
	Warren, S. and L. Brandeis. "The Right to Privacy [The Implicit Made Explicit]." Philosophical Dimensions of Privacy: An Anthology. Ed. F. Schoeman, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 75-103.
	Weinberg, Alvin M. "Can Technology Replace Social Engineering?" Controlling Technology: Contemporary Issues. Ed. W. B. Thompson. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1991. 41-48.
	Westin, A. Privacy and Freedom. London: The Bodley Head Ltd., 1970.
	Winner, L. "Do Artifacts have Politics?" The Whale and the Reactor. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1986, 19-39.
	Zarsky, T. Z. "Mine Your Own Business!: Making the Case for the Implications of the Data Mining of Personal Information in the Forum of Public Opinion," Yale Journal of Law & Technology, 5(4), 2002, 1-56.