MIT: Independent Activities Period: IAP

IAP 2017



PRIVACY AND DATA SCIENCE LAW, POLICY AND ETHICS IN A DATA-DRIVEN AGE

Cameron Kerry, Visiting Scholar, Omer Tene, VP of Research & Education, Int'l Ass'n of Privacy Professio

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/04
Limited to 30 participants
Attendance: Attendance at all sessions strongly recommended
Prereq: None

Increases in the power and granularity of data science present new challenges to privacy, as it becomes possible to identify individuals and their behavior in novel ways.  Data sets containing information about individuals have become the raw material for research and analytics by businesses, governments, and scientists.

Data collection and analysis that does not anticipate privacy issues carefully can provoke trouble, as controversies ranging from government bulk surveillance to Facebook’s testing of subscriber moods demonstrate. This course will look at the issues of privacy and data science within a social and legal context and survey the complex grid of legal structures and institutions that govern privacy at state, national, and international levels. Students will critically analyze and discuss real-world privacy problems and explore information security and data management issues in the context of data science. 

The course will meet in four two-hour sessions during the weeks of January 9 and January 16.  The format will be a combination of lecture and dialogue between the teachers, along with student participation in Socratic dialogue and case studies or problems.  A major component is the suggested readings that provide an introduction both to basic concepts in privacy and current issues.

Contact: Cameron Kerry, E15-384A, 617-710-2719, CKERRY@MEDIA.MIT.EDU


The Right to Privacy: History, Culture,

Jan/09 Mon 02:00PM-04:00PM 15-359

The first session will look at the roots of privacy in culture, philosophy, anthropology, and political theory to address what privacy means and why it matters to people.

Cameron Kerry - Visiting Scholar, Omer Tene - VP of Research & Education, Int'l Ass'n of Privacy Professio


Law and policy overview

Jan/10 Tue 02:00PM-04:00PM 15-359

Session Two will provide an overview of the two main systems of regulation of privacy and data protection: the United States and European Union.

Cameron Kerry - Visiting Scholar, Omer Tene - VP of Research & Education, Int'l Ass'n of Privacy Professio


Applied problems I (Identity)

Jan/18 Wed 02:00PM-04:00PM 15-359

In the second week, the course will turn to current problems in privacy especially relevant to data science.  Session Three will look at the increasing ability to identify individuals through aggregation and correlation fo data, and what that means for the concept of "personal information" and de-identification.

Cameron Kerry - Visiting Scholar, Omer Tene - VP of Research & Education, Int'l Ass'n of Privacy Professio


Applied problems II: ethics & algorithms

Jan/19 Thu 02:00PM-04:00PM 15-359

Session Four will look at the emerging policy issues of big data, analytics, and algorithmic decisionmaking.

Cameron Kerry - Visiting Scholar, Omer Tene - VP of Research & Education, Int'l Ass'n of Privacy Professio