| Unit name | Privacy Law: Theory & Practice |
|---|---|
| Unit code | LAWD30115 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Charlesworth |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | University of Bristol Law School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
The unit will provide an opportunity for students to engage in an in-depth study of theories of privacy, based on discussion of key legal, philosophical and political writings on the subject. These will include writings by commentators critical of the value of privacy, such as communitarians (e.g. Amitai Etzioni), feminist legal scholars (e.g. Catharine McKinnon), and ‘transparency’ advocates (e.g. David Brin). Insights from such study will provide students, both during their studies and beyond, with the ability to examine critically the rationales for, and possible consequences of, accepting particular claims to ‘privacy rights’ in law.
In the light of the theoretical study, students will examine the protection of privacy in a number of legal systems (primarily those of England, the USA, the Commonwealth nations, and under the ECHR). This section of the unit will be presented under the 3 umbrella categories often used by privacy theorists, although part of the concluding discussion will focus on the question of whether these categories are truly conceptually distinct.
• Physical privacy e.g. surveillance, CCTV, interception of communications
• Informational privacy e.g. personal data collection, data mining, ID cards
• Decisional privacy e.g. sexual autonomy, abortion
Students who have successfully passed this unit will be able to:
• identify and summarize the basic competing theories of privacy, and describe the relevance of these theories to legal studies;
• explain the ways in which legal systems seek to balance privacy rights against competing rights; discuss the treatment of privacy in different legal systems; and review the variety of contexts in which privacy rights may be claimed/upheld;
• employ knowledge of a range of theoretical debates surrounding the concept of privacy, and a critical comprehension of the political, socio-legal and economic factors that influence contemporary attitudes towards legally-based ‘privacy claims’, to illustrate both why legal solutions may fail to address new ‘privacy threats’, and how such failure might be overcome;
• analyse and articulate general principles of UK privacy law derived through a synthesis of UK, EU and ECHR legislation and case law;
• critically appraise and evaluate how contemporary privacy laws interface with other socially significant objectives, such as freedom of expression, transparency, community safety and security, and market efficiency.
10 x 1 hour lectures; 10 x 2 hour seminars
1 formative assessment: 1 x 1,500 word coursework. Formative assessments do not count towards final mark and can be optional.
2 x summative assessments: 2 x 2,000 word coursework. Summative assessments do count towards final mark.
The assessments will assess all of the intended learning outcomes for this unit.
Wacks, R. (2010) Privacy: A Very Short Introduction, OUP
Schoeman, F. D. (Ed.). (1984). Philosophical Dimensions of Privacy: An Anthology. Cambridge University Press
Brin, D. (1998). The Transparent Society, Perseus Press
Etzioni, A. (1999). The Limits of Privacy, Basic Books
Solove, D. J. (2004). The Digital Person: Technology and Privacy in the Information Age, New York University Press
Nissenbaum, H. F. (2010) Privacy in context : technology, policy, and the integrity of social life, Stanford University Press
