IST 620 - Digital Privacy

Syllabus for section FD1, Fall I 2025.

This course is fully online and does not meet in person. It is also asynchronous, which means that there is no specific time that you must be online each day, with the exception of any synchronous team meetings that your project group decides to hold.

Important Dates

Instructor Information

Dr. Mike Murphy
mmurphy2@coastal.edu
Office Location: Penny Hall room 238
https://ww2.coastal.edu/mmurphy2

Office Hours

Please see my schedule page for current office hour information.

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, you should be able to:

1. Identify personally identifiable information.
2. Describe fair information practices and fair information practice principles.
3. Locate and review applicable privacy regulations, such as the GDPR and CCPA.
4. Explain potential risks and impacts that may result from data breaches.
5. Identify ways that corporations monetize personal information in the surveillance economy.
6. Use remote collaboration tools to function as a member and leader of a team charged with recommending privacy controls.

ABET Assessment

The above student learning outcomes support the following ABET program-level student outcomes:

1. Analyze a complex problem and apply principles of computing and other relevant disciplines to elaborate solutions to it. [SLOs 1, 3, and 5]
2. Design, implement, and evaluate a computing-based solution to meet a given set of requirements in the context of the program’s discipline. [SLOs 1, 3, and 6]
3. Communicate effectively in a variety of professional contexts. [SLOs 4 and 6]
4. Recognize professional responsibilities and make informed judgments in computing practice based on legal and ethical principles. [SLOs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6]
5. Function effectively as a member and leader of a team engaged in activities appropriate to the program’s discipline. [SLO 6]

Texts and Materials

• No textbook is required for this course.
• Readings, reference materials, tutorials, and videos will be assigned.

Technology Requirements

• Broadband Internet access is required for this course.
• Word processing software (LibreOffice Writer or Microsoft Word) is required.
• A Web browser capable of accessing research materials and using the Moodle learning management system is required.
• Microsoft Teams (available through the University Microsoft 365 license) is required for remote collaboration and communication.

Grading

Unlike most courses, there are NO grades for individual activities in IST 620. Nor are there any quizzes or exams. Instead, this course uses an ungrading approach that is divided into three distinct Phases:

1. The Planning Phase consists of the first week of the course. During this phase, each person will submit an individual Course Plan.
2. The Discovery Phase comprises the bulk of the course. During this time, you will be working in your groups to cover the course material and generate Milestone reports. Only one report will be submitted per group.
3. The Reflection Phase occurs during the last week of the course. In this phase, you will individually reflect on your group work experience and propose your course grade.

Instead of earning points on individual assignments, quizzes, or exams, I will instead provide you with written feedback on each submitted activity. You can use the feedback from one Milestone report to help your team improve the next Milestone report.

There is NO final exam in this course.

Planning Phase

The purpose of the Planning Phase is to introduce you to the course and ensure that you are ready for the Discovery Phase. During the Planning Phase, you will complete a Course Plan worksheet to help you review this syllabus, understand the organization of the class, and develop a strategy for participating in the Group Project. You will also practice exporting your completed worksheet to PDF format and uploading it to Moodle.

Discovery Phase: The Group Project

Instead of basing the course on lectures and exams (or individual papers), this course uses a discovery-oriented approach to help you locate information relevant to digital privacy and privacy regulations. This field is constantly changing as new regulations and court cases evolve over time. It is therefore much more important to learn how to find and understand regulations than it is to focus on the details of the regulations that happen to be in place at this particular instant in time. It is also important to be able to work collaboratively in a team setting, which is why ABET requires graduate students to be able to function as both a member and a leader of a team.

The course project is divided into 5 weekly Milestones, each of which requires researching and preparing a written report on a topic related to digital privacy. Preparation of the report is a responsibility of the entire group. As part of the reporting process, each group member’s contributions to the overall effort will be documented.

For each Milestone, one person in the group will be the Team Leader. This role will rotate between group members such that each person in the group will serve as Team Leader for at least one milestone. Depending on the class enrollment and ultimate group sizes, it may be necessary for a person to be Team Leader more than once.

Team Leader Expectations

The person serving as Team Leader on a Milestone has the following responsibilities:

1. Facilitating communication between group members. We will be using Microsoft Teams as our collaboration platform this semester. The Team Leader should ensure that all team members are actively participating in the Milestone activities and inform the professor if someone goes missing.
2. Coordinating how the work for the Milestone will be divided across the team.
3. Combining individual member contributions into a single cohesive Milestone report.
4. Proofreading the completed Milestone report prior to submission.
5. Submitting the Milestone report on time.

Team Member Expectations

Each person who is not serving as Team Leader on a Milestone has the following responsibilities:

1. Performing their share of the research for each Milestone.
2. Writing the report sections applicable to their research topic(s).
3. Communicating regularly and effectively with the rest of the team.

Communications Expectations

An added expectation of the group project is that collaboration is to be done remotely using Microsoft Teams. Not everyone in the course will be in the same location or on the same schedule. While the group can choose to have synchronous meetings, the industry norm is to keep a running chat going so that discussions can take place across time zones and with fewer schedule conflicts. It is important to log into Teams and participate regularly – daily, if possible – in order for this approach to work effectively.

Reflection Phase

We will spend the final week of class working on individual Course Reflections, which take the form of a worksheet. The Reflection will cover knowledge gained in the course, teamwork experience, and the final grade proposal.

Final Grade

Although we have no grades during the semester, University policy requires a final grade to be assigned to this course using the established A-F letter scale. You will propose your final grade in the second part of the course reflection. I may agree or disagree with your self-assessment and may ultimately assign a higher or lower grade than what you propose. Your grade will be based largely on your individual contributions to the team effort. This approach to final grading is designed to reduce the amount of grade-related stress in this course, giving you more time and mental energy to focus on the material.

Course Policies

Academic Integrity

The CCU Academic Integrity Code (part of the Code of Student Conduct) applies to this course. In particular, making false statements, hiring or permitting someone else to complete course activities, and willful and flagrant plagiarism are all examples of academic integrity violations. Violations of the CCU Academic Integrity Code in this course will result in a course grade of FX.

Artificial Intelligence

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) software like ChatGPT may be used in this course, with the WARNING that it is likely to hallucinate incorrect information. Always verify the output of an AI algorithm to be sure the information it is providing is correct! Generative AI tools are excellent at giving responses that sound confident and are well-stated. However, they are known to make up information, report incorrect “facts,” and sometimes even produce offensive output. When using the results of AI in your research in this course, cite the AI tool as a source.

Generative AI may also be used as a writing aid for proofreading, spelling correction, and grammar correction. One caution about Microsoft’s AI (in Word) is that it often suggests grammatically incorrect English. Remember that AI is a tool and is not a replacement for the human mind.

Attendance

Per the University Distance Learning Policy, each missed submission counts as an absence. You will be dropped from the course if your Course Plan is not submitted in Moodle by 11:59 PM ET on the last day of the Planning Phase. Also, failure to participate in the group project for a given Milestone will be reported as an absence for that Milestone.

Communications Policy

I try to be available as much as possible during the semester via email, Teams, and in-person office hours. However, my work day may not always align with the time of day that you’re working on coursework. In general, I will reply to email and Teams messages within 1-2 business days, which may be longer than 2 calendar days in the case of messages sent over a weekend or holiday. I’m unable to return telephone calls when I’m not physically in the office, so response times are typically longer.

Contingency Plan

Per the CCU Academic Continuity Plan, courses will continue online whenever the University is unable to hold in-person classes. During contingency operations, we will proceed with our online course unless the Governor orders the University to close completely or the Provost gives alternate instructions. Please remember that an emergency in Horry County might impact my ability to communicate, and that synchronous communications (such as Teams) might not work properly. In such a situation, I plan to communicate with you using Moodle announcements and email. If you need to reach me during an emergency, please send me an email. My ability to respond will be dictated by emergency conditions, but I will respond when I’m able.

This is a fall semester course, which means that we may be affected by tropical storms and hurricanes. Please review my Hurricane Information page for specific information about tropical impacts. I live in Horry County Coastal Evacuation Zone C and will communicate my availability via Moodle announcements ahead of the storm.

ALWAYS take your laptop or other computer with you whenever you go out of town, including during University breaks, evacuations, and other travel. Remember that you could encounter travel difficulties and have issues returning on time even if University operations are not affected.

Disability Accommodations

I am happy to work with any students requiring accommodations for a disability. University policy stipulates that Accessibility and Disability Services is the only office on campus that is authorized to evaluate and provide academic accommodations. Please have your accommodations information sent to me within the first week of class or within a week of approval if accommodations are implemented in the middle of the semester.

Late Work

Each activity will close for submissions at 11:59 PM EDT on the specified closing date. Due to the fast paced nature of this course, late submissions will not be accepted.

If you become so sick that you’re unable to do your work, or if some other significant hardship arises, please let me know immediately. You need to notify me before the closing date unless you are hospitalized or otherwise incapacitated.

Submission Requirements

In order to ensure fairness and maintain accurate class records, all work in this course must be submitted via Moodle. I cannot accept submissions via email, printed paper, Teams, or by any other means unless an accommodation has been granted by Accessibility and Disability Services. Computer problems and life events are certainly possible during the semester, so I encourage you to submit as early as you can.

Disclaimer

Portions of this course may deal with issues related to cost analysis, laws, and ethics. I am not a lawyer, accountant, or financial advisor, and no portion of this class constitutes legal, financial, or other regulated professional advice. This syllabus is tentative and is subject to change with notice to the class during the semester. If a portion of this syllabus is found to be non-compliant with University policies or applicable laws, the remainder of this syllabus will remain effective.