DS 593: Privacy in Practice

Overview


While the Snowden revelations a decade ago brought privacy concerns to the mainstream, recent developments from across society such as generative AI, GDPR/CCPA, and the Dobbs decision have brought questions about data privacy, consent, management front and center. At the same time it can be hard to navigate how to think about privacy, protect it, and build for it. This class is an introduction to privacy in practice, intending to give students an understanding of modern frameworks for privacy and various privacy-enhancing technologies and mechanisms, as well as a hands-on exploration of relevant existing technologies in practice. Students will be encouraged to think critically about their relationships to their data and the consequences of different consent, protection, and management mechanisms-both for themselves and for society as a whole. This class is targeted for all audiences, and hopes to provide conceptual tools around privacy that would be valuable regardless of setting.

Instructor: Alishah Chator
Office Hours: 3-4pm on Tuesdays @ CDS1342 and by appointment

TA: Julie Ha
Office Hours: TBD


Lecture: Tuesday/Thursday 9:30–10:45am, FLR 152
Discussion sections: Wednesday 12:00–1:10pm CDS 548, 1:25-2:15pm MUG 203


Piazza (announcements and discussions): https://piazza.com/bu/spring2025/ds593 (join code aj6ecs3myhu)
Gradescope & code for submitting homework: https://www.gradescope.com/courses/956742 (entry code: 7EYKPD)

Syllabus And Course Schedule


The syllabus for this class is available here. The course schedule with lecture topics and due dates can be found here. Contents of both may change over the semester as needed.