COMS BC 3420 Privacy in a Networked World

Barnard College, Columbia University

Fall 2024

Time:		Wednesdays, 4:10pm - 6:00pm
Location:		TBD

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 forms.gle/grhnCjMCQ1pmLxTc7, 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 during the first week of June, 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.

Update as of June 10, 2024: I have made initial assignments into the class from the waiting list based on the form responses, which will likely show up for admitted students on the morning of June 11. I will continue to make new enrollments if slots open as students drop. If you have been added to the class and no longer wish to take it, please be considerate of your fellow students and drop the class so that someone else can be added. If you are on the waiting list and still wish to be considered for the class, make sure to fill out the "Assignment 0" form at forms.gle/grhnCjMCQ1pmLxTc7 so that you will be considered. Based on the current enrollments and rate of people dropping in recent semesters, I estimate that it is very unlikely that any juniors or sophomores will be admitted to the class.

Office Hours

Prof. Wright's open office hours: mostly Mondays 2-4pm for Fall 2024, 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:

what is privacy?
technology-specific issues (online social media, the Internet of Things, information consolidation, personalization, Internet commerce and payment technologies, ...)
sector-specific issues (healthcare, finance, national security, Internet applications, Census data, ...)
privacy legislation
privacy in the attention economy
fair information principles
when cryptography can and cannot help
anonymity vs. pseudonymity
differential privacy
deidentification and risks of reidentification
tools for privacy management
public information and privacy

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:

demonstrate understanding of privacy issues associated with various technologies and their use.
compare and contrast different approaches to privacy, and identify examples of when different approaches are relevant.
develop, refine, and execute a privacy-related project based on feedback and iteration.
evaluate the potential tradeoffs of privacy and other properties such as usability, transparency, profitability.

Additional Course Information

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