Criminal Justice (CRJS) 377

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.

CRJS 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, 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

Evaluation

To receive credit for CRJS 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:

The final examination for this course must be taken online with an AU-approved exam invigilator at an approved invigilation centre. It is your responsibility to ensure your chosen invigilation centre can accommodate online exams. For a list of invigilators who can accommodate online exams, visit the Exam Invigilation Network.

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.

Course Materials

Textbook

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.

Challenge Evaluation

To receive credit for the CRJS 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).

Undergraduate Challenge for Credit Course Registration Form

• Challenge for Credit Form