None; however, a previous course in social science is recommended. This is a senior course and as such students are expected to have advanced analytical and writing skills.
Course start date:
If you are a:
Self-funded student: register by the 10th of the month, start on the 1st of the next.
GOVN 377 is a cross-listed course—a course listed under 3 different disciplines—with LGST 377 and CRJS 377. GOVN 677 is a precluded course. GOVN 377 may not be taken for credit by students who have obtained credit for LGST 377, CRJS 377 or GOVN 677.
The textbook for the course, Controlling Knowledge: Freedom of Information and Privacy Protection in a Networked World is available for free download from AUPress.
Overview
The proliferation of the internet and other new technologies has had a seismic impact on our ability to create, collect, store, and share information. These new communication technologies promise great benefits for the transparency associated with good governance, but also conjure up images of a society where individual privacy is non-existent, replaced by the all-knowing, all-seeing “big brother” in either its corporate or governmental versions.
GOVN 377: Issues in Access to Information and Privacy Protection explores how society grapples with the issues surrounding information access and protection of privacy. It overviews a range of access and privacy debates, including the place of surveillance, anti-terrorism measures, social networking, data harvesting, algorithms in risk management, and the sharing of health information in a free and democratic society.
A shortened summary of some of the concerns raised in this course might look like: Internet + biometrics + data mining + RFID technologies = corporate/government “big brother” or Internet + Freedom of Information (FOI) + social networking = transparency and good governance?
Concerns about information access and privacy protection have given rise worldwide to Freedom of Information and Privacy Protection legislation. The course reviews how this legislation can protect and promote societal transparency and privacy, in addition to its conceptual basis.
Outline
The course consists of the following eight units.
Unit 1: Information Access and Privacy in a Networked World
Unit 2: Information Privacy: Legislation, Policy and Personal Autonomy
Unit 3: Information Access: Freedom of Information and Democracy
Unit 4: Privacy and Access to Information in the Health Sector
Unit 5: Public Safety, National Security and Surveillance
Unit 6: New Technologies: Data Mining, Matching, and Management
Unit 7: Research: The Implications for Access and Privacy
Unit 8: The Brave New World of Data Management and Manipulation
Evaluation
To receive credit for GOVN 377, you must complete all of the assignments, achieve a mark of at least 50 per cent on the final examination, and obtain a course composite grade of at least D (50 percent). The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:
Activity
Weight
Online Quiz
10%
Persuasive Essay
20%
Research Paper Proposal (Outline and Bibliography)
10%
Research paper
25%
Final Exam
35%
Total
100%
The final examination for this course must be requested in advance and written under the supervision of an AU-approved exam invigilator. Invigilators include either ProctorU or an approved in-person invigilation centre that can accommodate online exams. Students are responsible for payment of any invigilation fees. Information on exam request deadlines, invigilators, and other exam-related questions, can be found at the Exams and grades section of the Calendar.
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
This course either does not have a course package or the textbooks are open-source material and available to students at no cost. This course has a Course Administration and Technology Fee, but students are not charged the Course Materials Fee.
Lorna Stefanick. Controlling Knowledge: Freedom of Information and Privacy Protection in a Networked World. Athabasca University Press, 2011. (PDF) (Online)
Other materials
All other materials are available online.
Challenge for credit
Overview
The challenge for credit process allows you to demonstrate that you have acquired a command of the general subject matter, knowledge, intellectual and/or other skills that would normally be found in a university-level course.
Full information about challenge for credit can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.
Evaluation
To receive credit for the GOVN 377 challenge registration, you must achieve a grade of at least D (50 percent) on the examination, and an overall grade of at least D (50 percent).
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized study counterparts.