The Surveillance State: Big Data, Freedom, and You

Overview

Confront the tough questions about who’s out there watching us online—and how we can start watching our own backs. A man shoots down a drone that is flying over his private property. A retail store uses predictive data analytics to send pregnancy-related advertising to a teenager who has not told her parents about her condition. A police officer places a GPS device on a suspected criminal’s car to follow him and build a case against him.

The news is full of such stories, in which new technologies lead to dilemmas that could not have been imagined just a few decades ago. The 21st century has seen remarkable technological advances, with many wonderful benefits. But with these advances come new questions about privacy, security, civil liberties, and more. Big Data is here, which means that government and private industries are collecting massive amounts of information about each of us—information that may be used in marketing, to help solve criminal investigations, and to promote the interests of national security.

Taught by Professor Rosenzweig, J.D., esteemed legal expert and professorial lecturer at The George Washington University School of Law, these 24 revealing lectures tackle the tough questions about surveillance and data in the 21st century. With Professor Rosenzweig’s guidance, you’ll scrutinize our system of oversight for intelligence agencies, and you’ll consider the ways in which the information that is collected impacts (or potentially impacts) our civil liberties.

Course Lessons

01: Security, Liberty, or Neither?

Start by considering the tension between surveillance and the rule of law.
Duration: 33 min

02: The Charlie Hebdo Tragedy

Review three types of surveillance—physical, electronic, and data—and see how each type works.
Duration: 29 min

03: East Germany’s Stasi State

Survey the history of East Germany’s extreme surveillance state and think about the lessons it can teach us today.
Duration: 28 min

04: Surveillance in America

Explore the measures the American government took during the Cold War to prevent a Stasi-like state.
Duration: 31 min

05: Failing to Connect the Dots on 9/11

Review the history of FISA legislation and the changes that happened after 9/11 regarding intelligence sharing.
Duration: 33 min

06: The U.S. Spy Network in Action

Find out how the U.S. intelligence community is structured and how it functions.
Duration: 31 min

07: Big Data’s Shadow

Examine the potential inherent in deep and widespread data, as well as the threat it poses to privacy and security.
Duration: 30 min

08: Some Problems with Privacy

Reflect on the nature of privacy and consider the extremes of total surveillance versus complete invisibility.
Duration: 29 min

09: Under Observation: The Panopticon Effect

Consider the psychological implications of observation on both the observed and the observer.
Duration: 30 min

10: Drones, Drones Everywhere

Review the public and private uses of drones and consider policy issues surrounding their use.
Duration: 29 min

11: Biometrics: Eyes, Fingers, Everything

Examine the different forms of biometric screening and the benefits and darker sides of this data.
Duration: 30 min

12: Hacking, Espionage, and Surveillance

Investigate the techniques by which governments infiltrate each other and ponder the ethics of these actions.
Duration: 29 min

13: Local Police on the Cyber Beat

Find out what techniques local police use to gather surveillance data and solve crimes.
Duration: 30 min

14: Geolocation: Tracking You and Your Data

Explore how geolocation data is gathered and what investigators can do with such data.
Duration: 31 min

15: Internet Surveillance

Examine how the monitoring of web searches and emails allows the government to gain insights into potential security risks.
Duration: 30 min

16: Metadata: Legal or Not

Learn about metadata and the legal issues surrounding its gathering in the years after 9/11.
Duration: 30 min

17: Technology Outruns the Law

Explore expectations of privacy regarding email, phone metadata, and smart phones in the context of constitutional law.
Duration: 31 min

18: Your Personal Data Is the Product

Step into the world of commercial data aggregation and predictive analytics, and explore the legal and ethical questions surrounding data collection.
Duration: 30 min

19: The Internet of Things

Review the benefits and challenges of smart technologies and the data they aggregate.
Duration: 29 min

20: Anonymity: Going off the Grid

Explore the benefits and challenges of anonymity for individuals and society in the context of surveillance.
Duration: 31 min

21: Code Breaking versus Code Making

Unpack the tension between privacy and national security in the context of encryption and government access.
Duration: 31 min

22: Europe’s Right to Be Forgotten

Compare the legal state of data collection in Europe and America, focusing on the “right to be forgotten” principle.
Duration: 31 min

23: National Security and the First Amendment

Trace the recent history of the news media and draw conclusions about what information should be published.
Duration: 32 min

24: The Privacy Debate Needs You

Examine the possibilities of future technologies and the decisions we need to make about privacy and security.
Duration: 35 min