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Privacy Law and Social Networks (BLAW20002)
Undergraduate level 2Points: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
For information about the University’s phased return to campus and in-person activity in Winter and Semester 2, please refer to the on-campus subjects page.
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
Summer Term
Please refer to the LMS for up-to-date subject information, including assessment and participation requirements, for subjects being offered in 2020.
Overview
Availability | Summer Term |
---|---|
Fees | Look up fees |
The limited protection of privacy available to those who engage with social networks has provoked a range of legal policy and law reform debates. This subject will delve into the question of privacy law and social networks, in order to explain and critique the current legal position in diverse jurisdictions and internationally, as well as considering options for improving the law in the digital century.
Topics to be covered will include:
- Introduction: privacy in a networked environment;
- precursors: publication of diaries, letters, biographies, newspapers, photography, cinema, telephone, video and the rise of privacy;
- traditional legal responses: the development of common law and statutory doctrines dealing with aspects of privacy protection (not always explicitly);
- post-war pockets of specialised 'sui generis' laws including data protection, consumer protection, surveillance laws, and accompanying institutional innovations;
- modern trends and controversies: rise of an online networked society and challenges to privacy, problems of multi-jurisdictional laws; and
- imagining the future - what will be the role of law (and will it have a role)?
Intended learning outcomes
On completion of this subject students should:
- Recognise that privacy and social networks have various legal connection points;
- Appreciate the multiple ways in which privacy may be constrained and protected by the law, including in the context of social networks; and
- Understand the basic features of the legal treatment of privacy specifically in the context of social networks.
Generic skills
On completion of this subject students should have:
- Capacity for self-directed learning, specifically the ability to plan work and use time effectively;
- Cognitive and analytical skills;
- Ability to speak about complex ideas in a clear and cogent manner;
- Awareness of diversity and plurality;
- Ability to write essays which develop structured argumentation;
- Capacity to judge the worth of their own arguments.
Last updated: 11 April 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Recommended background knowledge
It is strongly recommended that students have completed at least 100 points of undergraduate study before enrolling in this subject.
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 11 April 2024
Assessment
Due to the impact of COVID-19, assessment may differ from that published in the Handbook. Students are reminded to check the subject assessment requirements published in the subject outline on the LMS
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Workshop attendance and participation | Throughout the teaching period | 10% |
Short writing exercise due three days after end of teaching
| End of the teaching period | 20% |
Reflective essay due four weeks after the end of teaching
| End of the teaching period | 70% |
Additional details
Assessment due dates will be available on the LMS.
Last updated: 11 April 2024
Dates & times
- Summer Term
Principal coordinator Megan Richardson Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 30 hours (one 3-hour lecture and one 3-hour workshop per day) Total time commitment 136 hours Pre teaching start date 20 January 2020 Pre teaching requirements Students are expected to access and review the Reading Guide that will be available from the LMS subject page and the subject materials provided by the subject coordinator, which will be available from the Co-op bookshop. Teaching period 17 February 2020 to 21 February 2020 Last self-enrol date 24 January 2020 Census date 17 February 2020 Last date to withdraw without fail 21 February 2020 Assessment period ends 13 March 2020 Summer Term contact information
Time commitment details
136 hours
Last updated: 11 April 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Required readings will be available online via the LMS subject page.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Breadth Track Law - Media and Intellectual Property Law - Breadth options
This subject is available as breadth in the following courses:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Bachelor of Biomedicine
- Bachelor of Commerce
- Bachelor of Design
- Bachelor of Environments
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Animation)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Film and Television)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Screenwriting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Art)
- Bachelor of Science
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
Additional information for this subject
If required, please contact law-admissions@unimelb.edu.au for subject coordinator approval.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 11 April 2024