Political Science 190: Senior Seminar in Privacy, Technology and Society
Fall, 2000, 12:00-1:15 p.m. MW
Professor Ken Nuger
Office: BT 455, Phone: 408.924.5346, email: kpnuger@email.sjsu.edu
Office Hours: 6:30-7:15 a.m., 10:30-11:45 a.m. MW, 1:30-2 p.m. W, 5:15-5:45 p.m. M, and by appointment
Political Science 190: Privacy, Technology and Society
Humanity's desire, or perhaps more accurately, need for privacy can be traced back at least to Adam and Eve wishing to cover themselves with fig leaves after their infamous snack. Throughout human history, people have developed ever interesting and complex ways to both invade privacy and protect it. However, when electricity was discovered and harnessed in the 19th century and 20th centuries, the potential for technological devices to invade human privacy grew at an increasingly fast and alarming rate. Now, at the dawn of the 21st century, humanity has exercised its collective creative genius to allow itself the ability to remove the cloak of "self" from individuals, exposing virtually every aspect of an individual's personal life to the scrutiny of the public.
Will individual privacy slowly erode leaving merely a glass house for humanity to reside in? Can humans physically and emotionally thrive, or at a minimum, at least survive in a society where privacy does not exist? The question may not be, do we desire privacy but rather, do we need it?
This course examines, seminar style, the developing relationship between technological progress and privacy and its resulting effects on society. The course examines the philosophical, historical, legal, psychological and sociological aspects of privacy and the role privacy plays for the well being of human kind. Concurrently, the course examines how technological advancements affects privacy, both as a means of threatening it as well as a protecting it.
What is a seminar?
A seminar is different from most undergraduate courses. Rather than lectures with some discussion or a lab, a seminar in the social sciences teaches students by engaging them in focused group discussions. It is by design, small to ensure that EVERYONE is actively involved in developing and sustaining serious oral reflection and analysis of the themes each seminar session addresses. To the extent that the professor lectures, the professor's role is to explain key concepts, develop the foundation of the discussion and then facilitate and direct quality group discussion that focuses on the topics of the day.
In essence, each of you will be teaching each other. All students will do all of the readings for all seminar sessions but individual students will be responsible for sharing with the professor, the responsibility of taking the lead in presenting the major points of a particular part of the reading assignment to the seminar's participants.
Grading
There are no quizzes or exams in this class. Your grade will be based on how well you prepare for each seminar session, how well you participate in each seminar session, a final research paper and research paper presentation to the class. Each week I will assign readings for all members of the seminar to carefully read. However, different students will be assigned the responsibility of preparing a detailed outline and summary of some particular part of the readings that will help you become the class expert on that portion of the readings. As we discuss the readings during a particular seminar session, the students who are responsible for the written outline and summary on any given reading assignment shall jointly, in conjunction with the professor, lead the seminar presentation of the material and facilitate general seminar discussion in which all students are expected to thoughtfully participate. You should be able to use your outline and summary to help you clarify the discussion when it revolves around your particular section of the day's readings. I will collect your outlines and summaries and will judge their quality as superior, acceptable or incomplete. Superior outlines and summaries will clearly convey the ideas of your section of the readings and their implications This is a very serious, important part of the seminar. You will be expected to be fully prepared to know your part of the readings very intimately and your written summaries of your assigned readings should reflect this expertise.
In addition to the regular written outlines and summaries, students must prepare a research paper at least 15 pages in length, not including the title page or the bibliography. The 15 page minimum is based on normal one inch margins and a common 12 point font. Click here for some research paper ideas. Click here to see who has dibbed what research paper topic. During the final weeks of the seminar, students will be called upon to make presentations and lead a seminar style discussion that revolve around the key points of your research paper. When the papers are due, students will hand in two copies of their papers. I will keep one copy and use the second copy to compile a collection of student research papers that will be available for purchase at the university copy center. During these final weeks, student reading assignments will comprise reading all of the student research papers. Early in the semester, we will draw numbers to determine the order for our student research presentations. We will attempt to complete at least two student presentations per seminar session. Your presentations should last approximately 30 minutes. It is the student's responsibility to know their place in the queue and be fully prepared to present their paper when it is their turn. If you miss class the day you are to present your research paper, you will move everyone up in the order their papers will be presented and likely draw the ire of your classmates, especially those who are immediately affected by your absence. It is important to remember that the possibility always will exist that one or more students preceding you may miss class, forcing you to present your paper sooner than the schedule originally dictated so always be prepared to do your presentation a day or two before your actual scheduled presentation date. This class format requires your presence every seminar session and you should prioritize your life to ensure your presence. I will subjectively discount the penalty of your absence in only the most sudden and unavoidable circumstances. It is entirely reasonable for you to expect to have your final course grade negatively affected if you are absent when your presentation is scheduled because in a seminar, your grade is substantially determined by the your attendance and the quality of your input session after session. If you are absent when it is your turn to give your presentation, your absence assures you of having zero input at the critical moment when the seminar depended on you. Of course, we will work you back into the schedule but please know that the gravest faux pas in a seminar is to not be ready to meet your seminar responsibilities, especially when they directly affect other students in the seminar who may be called upon to present their paper sooner than they expected because of your absence. Finally, your research papers are due November 1st and will be ready for group purchase shortly thereafter.
If one were to try to precisely quantify the percentage of your final grade each component of the seminar is worth, it is fairest to say that daily participation in the seminar juxtaposed with the written work assigned to students for each session is worth two thirds of your final grade. Recognize the importance of attendance in receiving an excellent evaluation in this area. If you miss a day of class, you have contributed nothing that day to this part of your grade. If you have to miss a day of class, I want to know about it before our class starts. If you don't tell me in person, a brief email or phone call to my office explaining the circumstances will suffice. You can soften the negative impact of your absence if I know about it prior to walking into the classroom and finding out you are not there. Still, this only softens the blow, it does not erase the fact you contributed nothing toward your grade for that day. Additionally, your research paper and how thoroughly you present it to the class is worth a third of your grade. Your research paper must reflect your best work. In a senior seminar, you are expected to demonstrate a high level of sophistication in your thinking, writing and oration. Call upon your past collegiate training and write a paper that demonstrates the level of intellectual excellence seniors should expect of themselves. Certainly, your professor expects it of you.
It is not unusual for students who make a good faith effort to do their best work, regularly show up for seminar and actively engage themselves in the seminar's proceedings to earn at least a B in the class. If you excel at these tasks, as judged by your professor, it is entirely likely that you can earn an A. Attendance, careful preparation and diligent participation are therefore, the foundation upon which your grade rests. They will keep you at least as busy, if not more so, than you would be in a regular lecture format course. However, your compensation for this level of diligence is not having to worry about annoying quizzes nor having to prepare for stressful major examinations. Hooray for seminars!!!!
Unit One: The Social/Psychological/Legal Parameters of Privacy
This unit introduces us to how privacy intersects the human condition. Is privacy a basic human need? Can a person be physically healthy and psychologically well adjusted in an environment lacking all privacy? How have people, especially those in the United States, tried to shield from public scrutiny, the parts of their lives they believe they have a right to keep private? What are the different ways people can conceptualize the concept of privacy? In other words, what are the various ways privacy can be invaded?
Some of the ideas we shall explore are:1. The need for privacy as a condition for human self fulfillment2. The social development of privacy in primitive and advanced societies.
3. The development of privacy (or lack thereof) in American Society.
4. The types of Privacy in a Society, including autonomy, intrusion and personal information
Readings:
Social and Psychological Overview of PrivacyThe Right to Privacy in American History
Cate, Chapters 1, 2 and 3
Database Nation, Chapters 1 and 2
Unit Two: Privacy and Government Surveillance
This unit examines how government uses technology to surveil citizens. When government agencies investigate our lives to determine if there is probable cause to arrest, charge, convict and punish citizens, what technological aids may government use? Is public safety so important a public interest that individuals must forfeit privacy so government can maximize public safety? What is the balance between an individual's right to be left alone and society's right to find out if the individual is breaking the law? What kinds of technology may government use to aid it when it wants to find out if citizens are breaking the law.
Some of the ideas we shall explore are:1. Surveilling human beings: physical law enforcement surveillance techniques2. Surveilling information created by human beings
Readings:
Database Nation, Ch. 5Cate, Chapter 5
High Technological Surveillance and the Fourth Amendment, on reserve and the web
Technology and the Right to Privacy, on reserve and the web
Biometrics, on reserve and the web
Closed Circuit Television: The English Experience, on reserve and the web
Harvard Symposium on Crime and Technology, on reserve and the web
Deciphering the Encryption Debate, on reserve and the web
Privacy and Video Surveillance, on reserve and the web
Thermal Imaging In Arizona, on reserve and the web
Hair Analysis/Drug Testing, on reserve and the web
The Power of the Federal Government in the Electronic Age, on reserve and the web
Communication Privacy in the Digital Age, on reserve and the web
Cryptography and the First Amendment, on reserve and the web
Some Observations on Encryption, on reserve and the web
The Constitution and Encryption, on reserve and the web
Unit Three: Privacy and Technology in the Private Sector
One of the great misunderstandings about constitutional rights is that they are primarily limiting government entities, not private entities from intruding on an individual's constitutional rights. Therefore, while the fourth amendment may prohibit as an unreasonable search and seizure, some types of employee monitoring of people who work in federal, state or local government employment, people working for private companies (the vast majority of us), have no fourth amendment protection to stop private employers from doing exactly the same type of monitoring. This unit explores different ways individual privacy can be threatened in the private sector. Many of the issues overlap with how government threatens privacy but as we will find out, because the private sector has grown so huge and because the U.S. Constitution does not perceive the private sector as a great a threat to individual freedom as the government itself, the private sector, much more so than government is likely to pose the greatest threat to privacy.
Some of the ideas we shall explore are:1. Employer monitoring and employee privacy2. Internet privacy insecurity.
3. Cookies, etc. and recording personal information in cyberspace
Readings:
Cate, Chapter 6Computer Cookie Control, on reserve and the web
Database Nation, Chapters 4, 6, 7, 8, 10
Medical Records, on reserve and the web
Talk of the Nation on Internet Privacy, on reserve and the web
Revisiting the Public/Private Distinction of Employee Monitoring, on reserve and the web
Unit Four: Technology and Constitutional Rights (Time Permitting)
In the United States, the Supreme Court has recognized a sphere of individual autonomy that allows citizens to make some decisions, free from some government prohibitions. These declarations of constitutional privacy include stated enumerated freedoms like free speech as well as possible unenumerated freedoms like abortion and the right to die. The primary focus of this unit examines how technological advances affect how government regulates these freedoms.
Some of the ideas we shall explore are:1. speech on the internet2. abortion and viability
3. physician assisted suicide
Readings:
Free Speech and the Global Information Network
Unit Five: European and U.S. Approaches to Safeguarding Privacy
We have spent much of our energies exploring problems that technology poses for human privacy. This unit is intended to explore how European Nations approach protecting privacy in relation to how privacy is protected in the United States. Note that in Europe, privacy is perceived as a very important freedom and the European Union Directive attempts to protect privacy in a way that respects it as a fundamental right. In the United States, privacy must compete with other rights that both individuals and society lay claim to with the inevitable results being that privacy protection must be balanced against other important interests. Which approach do you believe will offer the best balance between the rights society claims it has to ensure broad public interests are met and the privacy rights individuals claim are part of the natural fabric of human rights.
Some of the issues we shall explore are:1. The European Union Directive
a. Privacy as a fundamental freedom to be protected2. The U.S. Privacy National Information Infrastructure
a. A patchwork of lesser protectionsReadings:
Cate, Chapter 4, Appendices A, B and C
Comparing U.S. and Europe Privacy Protection, on reserve and the web