Module UXS-2055:
Privacy and the Media
Module Facts
Run by School of Arts, Culture and Language
20.000 Credits or 10.000 ECTS Credits
Semester 2
Organiser: Prof Andrew McStay
Overall aims and purpose
The purpose of this dual-coded course it is to offer Level 2 (and 3) students insight into critical debates on privacy and life with data-intensive technologies The module takes an expansive view of what we mean by media to include networked environments, television, journalism, social media, and more. Through a balance of theory and case studies, students will develop awareness of the various ways in which privacy can be conceived, its philosophical understandings and industrial realities; technologies and philosophies of surveillance; and questions of identity and power. Students will eventually use their range of theoretical, technical and economic insight to make recommendations to key stakeholders in privacy matters.
Course content
Week 1: Introduction: What is privacy and why does it matter? A historical/theoretical perspective.
Week 2: Nothing to hide, nothing to fear: myth and Western roots of privacy
Week 3: Journalism: a complex relationship with privacy
Week 4: The Snowden leaks: a call for better surveillance
Week 5: Encryption: simultaneously public and private
Week 6: Platforms: disruption, connection and new social actors
Week 7: Reading Week
Week 8: Big data: machine learning and the politics of algorithms
Week 9: Re-introducing the Body: intimate and wearable media
Week 10: Empathic media: towards ubiquitous emotional intelligence
Week 11: Sexting: exposure, protocol and collective privacy
Week 12: Summary and assessment guidance
Assessment Criteria
excellent
A- to A*
Submitted work is of an outstanding quality and excellent in one or more of the following ways:
- Has originality of exposition with the student’s own thinking being readily apparent.
- Provides clear evidence of extensive and relevant independent study.
- Arguments are laid down with clarity and provide the reader with successive stages of consideration to reach conclusions.
threshold
D- to D+
Submitted work is adequate and shows an acceptable level of competence as follows:
- Generally accurate but with omissions and errors.
- Assertions are made without clear supporting evidence or reasoning.
- Has structure but is lacking in clarity and therefore relies on the reader to make links and assumptions.
- Draws on a relatively narrow range of material.
good
C- to B+
Submitted work is competent throughout and may be distinguished by superior style, approach and choice of supporting materials. It:
- Demonstrates good or very good structure and logically developed arguments.
- Draws at least in parts on material that has been sourced and assessed as a result of independent study, or in a way unique to the student.
- Assertions are backed by evidence and sound reasoning.
- Accuracy and presentation in an appropriate academic style.
Learning outcomes
-
Appreciate the philosophical complexity of privacy
-
To be able to critically analyse new media developments in light of specific theories on privacy
-
To have strong awareness of technical factors that inform privacy matters
-
Appreciate legal frameworks that should guide privacy
Assessment Methods
Type | Name | Description | Weight |
---|---|---|---|
Co-leading seminar | 30.00 | ||
Assessment of privacy implications | 70.00 |
Teaching and Learning Strategy
Hours | ||
---|---|---|
Seminar | Weekly 1hr seminar to discuss core readings |
11 |
Study group | Work as a small team to prepare co-leading a seminar for a week. |
16 |
Private study | 162 | |
Lecture | Weekly 1hr lectures |
11 |
Tutorial | Consult module teacher with plan for group-work and essay (email or in person) |
1 |
Transferable skills
- Literacy - Proficiency in reading and writing through a variety of media
- Computer Literacy - Proficiency in using a varied range of computer software
- Self-Management - Able to work unsupervised in an efficient, punctual and structured manner. To examine the outcomes of tasks and events, and judge levels of quality and importance
- Exploring - Able to investigate, research and consider alternatives
- Information retrieval - Able to access different and multiple sources of information
- Critical analysis & Problem Solving - Able to deconstruct and analyse problems or complex situations. To find solutions to problems through analyses and exploration of all possibilities using appropriate methods, rescources and creativity.
- Presentation - Able to clearly present information and explanations to an audience. Through the written or oral mode of communication accurately and concisely.
- Teamwork - Able to constructively cooperate with others on a common task, and/or be part of a day-to-day working team
- Argument - Able to put forward, debate and justify an opinion or a course of action, with an individual or in a wider group setting
- Self-awareness & Reflectivity - Having an awareness of your own strengths, weaknesses, aims and objectives. Able to regularly review, evaluate and reflect upon the performance of yourself and others
Resources
Talis Reading list
http://readinglists.bangor.ac.uk/modules/uxs-2055.htmlReading list
Privacy and the Media by Andrew McStay (please check that we have license for simultaneous reading)
boyd, d. (2014) It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens. New Haven: Yale University Press. Full text available from: http://www.danah.org/books/ItsComplicated.pdf
Calvert, C. (2000) Voyeur Nation: Media, Privacy, and Peering in Modern Culture. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.
Castells, M. (2009) Communication Power. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hildebrandt, M. and de Vries, H. (2013) Privacy, Due Process and the Computational Turn: The Philosophy of Law Meets the Philosophy of Technology. London: Routledge.
Goold, B.J and & Neyland, D. (eds) (2009) New Directions in Surveillance and Privacy. Cullompton: Willan.
Lane, J.; Stodden, V.; Bender, S. and Nissenbaum, H. (2014) Privacy, Big Data, and the Public Good: Frameworks for Engagement (eds.). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Full text available from: http://wpressutexas.net/cs378h/images/b/b3/LaneEtAlPrivacyBigDataAndThePublicGood.pdf
Lyon, D. (2003) Surveillance as Social Sorting: Privacy, Risk and Digital Discrimination. London: Routledge.
McStay, A. (2011) The Mood of Information: a Critique of Online Behavioural Advertising. New York: Continuum.
McStay, A. (2014) Privacy and Philosophy: New Media and Affective Protocol. New York: Peter Lang.
McStay, A. (2016) Digital Advertising (Second Edition). London: Palgrave-Macmillan.
McStay, A. (2018) Emotional AI: The Rise of Empathic Media. London: Sage.
Nissenbaum, H. (2010) Privacy in Context: Technology, Policy, and the Integrity of Social Life. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Rozenburg, J. (2004) Privacy and the Press. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kunelius, R.; Heikkilä, H.; Russell, A. and Yagodin, D. (2017) Journalism and the NSA Revelations: Privacy, Security and the Press. London: I.B. Tauris.
Solove, D.J. and Schwartz, P. (2008) Privacy and the Media. New York: Aspen.
Wacks, R. (1995) Privacy and Press Freedom. London: Blackstone Press
Wacks, R. (2010) Privacy: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Journals to be accessed through the University • Big Data & Society • Communication Research • Communication Studies • European Journal of Communication • Information, Communication & Society* • International Journal of Media and Communication Studies • Journal of Communication Studies • Journal of Consumer Culture • Journal of Ethical Space • Journal of Ethics and Information Technology • Journalism Studies • Marketing Theory • M/C - Media & Culture • New Media and Society * • Social Media + Society • Science, Technology, & Human Values • Theory, Culture & Society
Courses including this module
Optional in courses:
- Q3P3: BA English Lang with Media Stds year 2 (BA/ELMS)
- L202: BA Politics and Economics year 2 (BA/POLEC)
- M1P1: LLB Law with Media Studies year 2 (LLB/LMS)
- M1P2: LLB Law with Media Studies (International Experience) year 2 (LLB/LMSI)
- W900: MArts Creative Practice year 2 (MARTS/CP)