Thread by @tiffanycli

Here is my syllabus for the very idiosyncratic privacy law class I’m teaching this fall at Yale.

“The Changing Right to Privacy” looks at privacy from diverse, interdisciplinary perspectives – inc. philosophy, ethics, history, policy, & critical theory.

tiffanyli.com/wp-content/upl…

We start with privacy ethics and philosophy of identity, because I believe it’s important that we establish what privacy is and what privacy protects before we begin analyzing the law.

You can’t teach privacy law in America without assigning Warren and Brandeis. But understanding the historical development of privacy from a critical lens is important too.

(The Rosen piece is included as an overview of Richards’s excellent book.)

What I find most interesting about the privacy torts is how much they revolve around concepts of identity and personality.

It is impossible to comprehensively cover the constitutional right to privacy in one class, esp. when assuming no prior knowledge. This session provides just a taste of some current issues.

There are many key differences in regional approaches to privacy on an international level. Culture, history, and politics change the way privacy law develops around the world.

One concept in privacy that is rapidly changing with new technology is the distinction between public and private spaces. It’s at the core of many legal discussions on how the law should protect privacy.

As tech changes, concepts of the “self” change as well. We now have digital identities and online personas. One day, we will have new concepts of self in virtual worlds. Our understanding of privacy will change as technology changes.

Finally, consumer tech is probably the easiest entry into studying privacy. How do companies like Facebook, Google, Amazon, & 23andMe protect your privacy? What legal protections do consumers have? Are laws and regulations changing to protect consumers or to protect companies?

Caveats: This class takes a heavily theoretical approach to privacy law. It does not include most of the actual laws and cases you need to know to practice privacy law. I designed the class as a supplement to a traditional privacy law course, not a replacement.