Abstract:

The activity deals with an international view of privacy from a computer user's perspective. This activity is intended to prompt the students to consider the ethical concerns in regard to privacy that are faced by both computer users in the U.S.A and the People's Republic of China.  The students will be assigned a pre-class worksheet and readings pertaining to privacy laws in China, and the instructor will then provide a brief presentation on the laws and customs of this country.  The presentation will be followed by a discussion of an ethical scenario involving privacy issues from the perspective of both U.S. and China’s laws.

Goals for the activity:

To develop a basic awareness of international privacy rights.

Expose students to a non-US-centric view of the ethical concerns of privacy.

Show students the impact that differing privacy laws in China and the U.S.A. have on computer users.

Knowledge / skills / attitudes to be developed (behavioral objectives):

-Students will take what they learned in the previous lesson and apply the same privacy issues to a different country.
-Students will learn about specifics laws that exist in other countries.
-Students will relate these foreign laws to domestic laws.
-Students will think critically about how these varying stances might benefit or hurt society.
-Students will develop their own opinions about foreign privacy laws.

Procedure:

1.  Assign pre-class assignment, either during the prior class or through the web page calendar.

2.  Collect the pre-class assignment from the students.

3.  Present the Debate Scenario

- The authorities recieve an anonymous phone call informing them that John W. has child pornography pictures on his computer. There is no way of tracking who the caller was or how he knows this information. What kind of action can be taken in the United States of America as compared to the People's Republic of China?

4.  Present how the United States handles privacy. (link)

            - What the US might do (link) 

- US government never complained about the Intel Pentium III chip Processor Serial Number issue. (may have asked for # in first place)

             - Allowed request of ID cards

- Merely a 9 digit unique identifier

- For Social Security

- For IRS identification

- For Identification of Federal Penitentary Inmates

- For identification of Armed Services Personnel

- For identification of Persons who have failed to pay child support

5. Present how China handles privacy. (link)

             - What the Chinese might do (link) 

             - China’s long-standing policy on keeping close track of its citizens

                          - Firewall for internet browsing on sites outside of China

- Chinese government limited the import and use of the Intel Pentium III chip because of concern over the Processor Serial Number.

             - Allowed request of ID cards

- Include name, sex, nationality, date of birth, address, and term of validity

- Political, Economic and Social affairs, which involve rights and interests, government offices, people’s organizations and enterprises.

6. Compare and Contrast the two sides, forming benefits and disadvantages using the in-class worksheet. Write results on board if necessary to organize thoughts.

7. Summarize what the class went over today, including opinions from the in-class worksheet.

Accessing Outcomes:

Review the answers that the student's gave for their pre-class assignment.  See if the students were able to determine what the main issues of the assignment were.  Also try to judge their absorption of the material from the issues that are raised in the in-class debates.  Make sure that the students have been able to see the issue from both the US side and the Chinese side.  If the main issues appear to have been missed, use international privacy as a related subject for another assignment so that they have another chance to view the material

Additional Remarks:

Depending on the point that is being conveyed to the class, a different country may be substituted and researched. China is very strict and limiting, much more so than Canada, for example. As the Internet evolves and extends to more and more people of different backgrounds, privacy policies will surely change, hopefully for the better.

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