Data Privacy Problem Based Learning: Surveillance Capitalism - PHI00104M
Module summary
Students on this module will work in groups of up to 8. They will form a Task and Finish Group, setting their own Terms of Reference and working practices. They will then be given 2 cases to decide and report on as Working Group. Teamwork will be assessed by the Item/Decision/Action Log of the Group. Students will also write an individual report on one case study.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 2 2025-26 |
Module aims
By working collaboratively as a formally constituted committee, you will learn to research, evaluate and make recommendations about real cases of data privacy in a way that this would be handled in a working environment.
Case studies are chosen which will require you to understand ethical, political, regulatory and technical issues of data privacy. You will need to be aware of your own strengths and weaknesses in these different areas and how to work as an effective team with people who have different strengths.
Module learning outcomes
By the end of this module students should be able to …
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Work in a team drawing upon other team members’ skills and knowledge to produce a collective decision;
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Meet the professional standards of formal governance committees and working groups;
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Demonstrate an appreciation of, and a sensitivity to, the complexity of real world examples of data privacy;
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Research the technical, regulatory, ethical, social and political context of real world data privacy issues;
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Come to a considered and practical recommendation in the light of all available information.
Module content
Students will form Task and Finish Groups (up to 8 per group). At the start of term the group must decide on its working practices (who chairs meetings, who maintains IDA log etc) and write its own Terms of Reference (examples will be given). Each Group will be assigned an academic tutor to act as professional advisor.
The Groups will be set two ‘cases’ (real case studies) over the semester. They will have to decide what reports they need, who produces those and what process to follow. They can determine their own pattern of meetings, so long as the deadline for submitting the Group Report is met.
An example case for might be:
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Write Terms of Service and a Privacy Policy for a social media provider (e.g. a Mastodon instance)
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You must look at the policies of at least two existing services and do an analysis of their strengths and weaknesses for respecting user privacy.
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You should identify all the different types of user generated content on the service and how these might be treated differently.
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You must consider the principles of ‘privacy by design and default’, user expectations and relevant legislation such as the Online Safety Act.
Assessment will consist of the formal Group Report (group assessment), IDA Log (teamworking assessment), and an individual report (2000 words) on one case.
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 30.0 |
| Groupwork | 35.0 |
| Groupwork | 35.0 |
Special assessment rules
Other
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 30.0 |
| Oral presentation/seminar/exam | 35.0 |
| Oral presentation/seminar/exam | 35.0 |
Module feedback
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Tutors observing meetings will give verbal formative feedback at the end of each meeting.
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Written group summative feedback will be provided at the end of each case study. Individual summative feedback will be returned in accordance with University and Departmental policy.
Indicative reading
Cathy O’Neill, Weapons of Math Destruction, (Penguin, 2017)
Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism (Profile, 2019)
Carissa Veliz, Privacy is Power (Penguin, 2020)
Students may also enjoy watching the documentary film:
The Social Dilemma (2020) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11464826/