COMS BC 3420 Privacy in a Networked World

COMS BC 3420 Privacy in a Networked World

Prof. Rebecca Wright
Barnard College, Columbia University
Fall 2022

Time: Wednesdays, 4:10pm - 6:00pm
Location: Milstein LL017

Waiting List

This class has only 24 slots, and has been very popular. This semester, I am handling the waitlist as an instructor-controlled waiting list. Priority will be given to seniors, and half of the seats will be reserved for Barnard students. To be considered for being let into the class, please join the waiting list AND fill out the form at tinyurl.com/c57c823t, which asks three questions about your interest in the class. Based on the strength of your answers and looking to ensure we have a multidisciplinary perspective in the class, as well as prioritizing seniority and reserving half of the available slots for Barnard students (assuming sufficient demand), I will make an initial round of enrollments from the waitlist on June 1, considering all responses that have been received by 11:59pm ET on May 31. After that time, I will continue to add new students to the class as other students drop, including taking into consideration any additional responses received by that time. I will provide updates here from time to time, with the goal of helping students plan.

Waitlist update 4/24/2022: After the first registration period, there are 70 students on the waitlist. As noted above, I will process the waitlist to fill the 24 available class slots on June 1. If you are on the waitlist, please make sure to fill out the form at tinyurl.com/c57c823t by May 31 in order to be considered for the class. Based on the current waitlist, if all or most of the students on the waitlist fill out that form with reasonable answers, I would expect that only seniors will be admitted in the June initial round of admits (though other outcomes could be possible).

Waitlist update 6/1/2022: I have admitted 24 students from the waitlist into the class. (It will take a day or two for it to show up for those students.) If you have been admitted to the class but no longer want to take it, please drop the class during your next registration period so that others can be admitted. I will continue to admit students to the class as others drop, including taking into consideration any students who newly are both on the waiting list and have filled out the assignment 0 form. Some semesters, there is quite a bit of turnover before classes start and during the first week or so of class, and other semesters there is very little, so I can't really predict your chances of getting in to the class if you are still on the waiting list. That said, it continues to look like it will be all or mostly only seniors who get in.

Waitlist update 6/25/2022: No students dropped the class during the June 13-24 registration period. I will still continue to add new students from the waiting list (including taking into account the form responses) if/when others drop.

Waitlist update 9/3/2022: Very few students have dropped the class yet. There is usually some movement during the add/drop period at the start of the semester, but not a huge amount. I will continue to add people as others drop.

Office Hours

Prof. Wright's open office hours: typically Thursdays 2-4pm for Fall 2022, but sometimes rescheduled. Complete schedule of office hours.

Course Description

The ubiquity of computers and networks in business, government, recreation, and almost all aspects of daily life has led to a proliferation of online sensitive data: data that, if used improperly, can harm the data subjects. As a result, concern about the use, ownership, control, privacy, and accuracy of these data has become a top priority. This seminar course focuses on the technical challenges of handling sensitive data, the privacy implications of various technologies, and the policy and legal issues facing data subjects, data owners, and data users.

Specific topics to be discussed include:

This course is suitable for computer science majors and non-majors, and we take a multidisciplinary approach to privacy. Coding background is not required. Course readings draw on a variety of sources, including both technical materials and the popular press. The course includes a student-chosen privacy-related project. Projects are largely student-directed, and can include activities such as a programming project, a design proposal for a new privacy solution, a survey article describing the state of the art in a particular area, a public policy or legal argument, or an article suitable for the popular press.

We start each class with a discussion of a privacy-related case study. For each, we frame our discussion around a series of specific questions, which you can find in the Courseworks site for the class. Two of your assignments are to present your own case studies. Some student case studies may be used during class as examples.

Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to:

Additional Course Information

Additional course information, including a detailed syllabus, reading list, and information about grading, will be available for enrolled students via Courseworks.


Copyright © 2020 Rebecca N. Wright