740.01 Data/Cyber Ethics Seminar

Russian interference of the 2016 presidential election and the 2018 midterm elections have exposed unprecedented vulnerabilities: shortcomings to national cybersecurity policy and the failure to develop effective cyber threat deterrents; underregulation of social media platforms and Internet governance; how best to safeguard voter data and consumer data; and what federal oversight of election administration and voting systems may be necessary while still respecting federalism principles and state sovereignty. Multiple intelligence reports have described the interference as an “influence campaign” that blended covert cyber operations, and overt propaganda and misinformation operations. This seminar will explore how best to address the legal and policy challenges posed by the foreign interference in U.S. elections. The course will explore how policy and corporate reform efforts can be shaped by the emerging fields of cyber ethics and data ethics. The seminar will include a close examination of intelligence reports, the Special Counsel’s indictments, and other original source material to better understand the nature of foreign interference in US elections. It will also include an in-depth discussion of interdisciplinary work authored by experts in multiple fields: data and information science, ethics, privacy law, cybersecurity, national security, federalism, state and local governments, corporate governance, election law and voting rights, media and communications law, internet governance, civil rights and civil liberties, international relations, and political science and political theory. For graduate students and law students, regular participation will be supplemented by additional reading assignments and more in-depth research requirements, including an expectation to pursue original source research.
Graduate and law students will also meet separately with the instructor throughout the semester to discuss the supplemental reading assignments and research progress, and will have an opportunity to present their research findings at the conclusion of the semester.  This course may be used by law students to satisfy the Substantial Research and Writing Project degree requirement.

Special Notes:

Meets at West Duke 108A

Fall 2019

Course Number Course Credits Evaluation Method Instructor
740.01
Course Credits
Research paper, 25+ pages
Class participation
Margaret C. Hu
Course
Degree Requirements
Course Requirements - JD
Course Requirements - LLM
Course Areas of Practice