English 30.10 (Fall 2010)
What Was Privacy?
John T. Harwood
Classroom: 208 Thomas (8:00-9:15 AM, T-Th)
Office: 229 Computer Building
Office Hours: Contact Deb Dixon (dkt6@psu.edu)
Contact info: jth@psu.edu
(o) 814-863-0421 (h) 814-235-1198
Digital Life: www.personal.psu.edu/jth
Facebook: jtharwood
Flickr: flickr.com/photos/john_t_harwood
Linkedin: john-harwood
Delicious: johtharwood (hash tag #e30-privacy) Twitter: waverly (hash tag #e30-privacy)
Course Blog: https://protected.personal.psu.edu/jth/blogs/english_30_what_was_privacy/
To get to this blog, go to: https://blogs.psu.edu and log in
Information Form for Students:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?authkey=CK3d0YEL&hl=en&formkey=dC1PR3pGNW91S
Xo4ZFdrNXljbFBKbXc6MQ#gid=0
All email communication with me will occur via ANGEL.
Overview
This seminar explores the idea of privacy – what it once was, what it currently is, what it could become, and
what you would like it to become. The idea of privacy is a very hot topic today. Has Facebook changed its
privacy policies AGAIN? (By the way, what were they last week? What are my current settings anyway?) Or
Google’s Buzz. Did I really intend to have all of my email friends joined to my Buzz account? Some Colleges
at Penn State specifically advise students not to have a Facebook account even though it knows that 90% of
our students spend 4-5 hours per week on Facebook. Where’s the disconnect?
Two views of technology and society frame our boundaries as citizens.
1. We live in the great age of Cyber Promise: the Information Age, High-speed Internet, G4 wireless,
Bluetooth, RFID, bar codes, and gadgetry galore. We are nothing if not wired. We are continuously
connected to everyone and everything! Google, Yahoo, and Bing have democratized the control of
information, enabling a PSU scientist and a teenager in Bangladesh to drink from the same IT
fountain. They can debate on Wikipedia, and the youngster has a chance of having his voice heard
round the world. Entrepreneurs offer spectacular technologies for sharing all things digital
(YouTube, Facebook, flip cameras, cell phones, Skype, Twitter, Digg, Delicious, Flickr, blogs) with
anyone who has access to the Web. Geography is irrelevant; so are time zones. All you need is a
social compass, imagination, and curiosity. Through social communities and micro-blogs, we can
instantly find people who share our passions, who like to listen to our rants (and vice-versa),
fantasies, or peeves, or who just like to know what we’re doing. We use these liberating technologies
to communicate and collaborate – or just have fun. What could be better or more efficient? We use
technology to build a better world – become more international, respond instantly to crises like the
Haiti earthquake, mobilize political action groups, and interact with people we cannot see face to
face. Through these technologies, strangers become friends. Isn’t it worth trading a little bit of
privacy for a whole lot of community? And besides, most people think it’s smart to have a lot of
friends on Facebook or followers on Twitter – this is networking, and in a very difficult job market,
it’s who you know. Let’s face it: technology is essentially benign, and we should trust companies that
are bold enough to offer new products. If you can’t handle IT, go back into your cave! This is the
Harwood, Page 1
future, so get used to it. Digital natives, their kingdom having come, will rule the planet wisely. Fear
not: a new age beckons.
2. The commercial interests of the Internet and the controlling interests of the State, especially after
9/11, have essentially eliminated any vestige of personal privacy. We shouldn’t expect it in airports;
our cities (and State College) bristle with video surveillance. The Patriot Act gave unprecedented
powers for the government to monitor voice and data traffic about people inside and outside the US:
cyber-wiretaps are the norm, not the exception. On the personal side, all data about us is sharable and
has been commoditized. My Genome is probably for sale; I have already had my DNA analyzed by
PSU researchers for my racial background – and who knows where that data has gone and who is
using it and for what purpose? For a very small investment of time or money, anyone can discover
almost everything about each person in this class: health issues (for the student, family, or friends),
including the genetic predisposition to major illnesses, financial status (and risks), legal history;
educational performance, social contacts, and your contacts’ contacts (this is a vertiginous mise en
abyme, the black hole of social network analysis, the point where all technologies have jumped the
shark). That rough beast slouching toward Bethlehem, as Auden would say, is a cyborg tracking you
via GPS. Spyware, malware, scareware, phishing, hacking, bots, Trojans, RFID, full-body scans at
the airports, RFID, implanted chips: what do they all have in common except the terrifying power of
IT to strip you of your identity? When Big Brother comes knocking, he already knows who’s there:
it’s you. Avoid any contact with a digital self, and if you have one already, ctrl-alt-del it. Scott
McNealy, former president of Sun, said in 1999, ―You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it.‖ Buy a
copy of the Turner Diaries, and then tune out, drop out, and go dark. ―Light after light goes out / And
universal darkness covers all‖ (Alexander Pope, 1743). Your safest way to live is off the grid.
A false dichotomy? Let’s find out what lies between these extremes, and what is possible outside of them. We
will explore this semester the continuum of meanings that surround privacy, including secrets, private life,
exposure, exhibitionism, FERPA, public life, social isolation, interior life, TMI, spying, surveillance,
monitoring, HIPPA, digital personae, the wisdom of crowds, e-discovery, individuality, and social control.
We will read widely, write frequently, debate openly, share generously, and explore vigorously a range of
technical, economic, and ethical issues that affect the world we live in now and the world that we are creating.
Our primary texts will range from a classic 1921 Russian novel (We) to current books about the state of
information technology – and privacy. We will consider both utopian and dystopian perspectives and want to
know what the world looks and feels like from all sides, and in fact you’ll have a chance to create your own
Nation and implement your views about privacy vs. security. Finally, I will want you to take a stand and
propose actions that Penn State should take about its own privacy policies and practices – and maybe more
than that. Should the US have a national privacy law (as many countries have)? And if so, what are its key
elements? What are the stakes?
Learning Outcomes
English 30 is a course in argumentation. You will need to be skillful at understanding audience, purpose, and
rhetorical strategies for negotiating the ―rhetorical triangle.‖ You will:


analyze and experiment with lots of rhetorical strategies
evaluate the success of arguments (narrative, process analysis, causal analysis, encomium, rebuttal,
cultural analysis, manifesto, satire, invective, and mock-form of any of these)
English 30 (Fall, 2010), page 2


assess the quality and use of sources and evidence in argument
contribute effectively to group projects (as leader, follower, contributor, and reflector)
Bottom line: were you persuaded? Why? What would it take for someone to change your mind about
something important?
Owner’s Manual: Some Assembly Required
(1) Class Preparation. Before each class period, the assigned team will post in ANGEL three significant
questions that we should address. These will not be ―graded‖ or returned, but they will count significantly in
your class participation and will be used extensively in discussion on the second and third days we cover a
book.
(2) Attendance and Time Management. You are expected to (a) attend all classes, (b) complete all
readings, (c) participate in class discussion in class and online, (d) contribute effectively in team assignments
and activities, and (e) complete all ―Proposals‖ and ―Drafts‖ at the beginning of class on the dates scheduled.
If you do not have the proposals and drafts as scheduled, then you cannot participate in class workshops.
Attendance will be taken at all classes. You are subject to a grade penalty if you miss more than three (3)
classes without a formal medical excuse. Late papers? Don’t even think about it. A due date is a moment in
time, not a hope for the future.
(3) Written work. Five formal papers of 4-5 double-space pages are required. Formal proposals for Papers 4
and 5 are required. Graded papers will be returned within a week and probably sooner. ―Proposals‖ and
―Drafts‖ are to be carefully written and properly proofread. You benefit most from drafts if they represent
serious effort towards a final product, not a sloppy beginning. Take them seriously. I am a first-rate editor,
but this isn’t my role. I am your rhetorical coach. For every paper you submit, please follow this file name
convention: Harwood, Paper #1 (September 24, 2010). Bring a hard copy to class – stapled and double
spaced.
(4) Scholarly and Web Resources. This course does not require extensive use of the library, but you will
need to know your way around the CAT, including some of its many databases. The University Libraries
offer introductory tours early in the semester: take advantage of the opportunity. Using Pattee-Paterno
skillfully and efficiently can make a big positive difference to your grades during the next four years.
Documentation, however, is required, and we will use the MLA style sheet to cite printed and digital
resources. Refworks (http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/researchguides/matbytype/refworks.html) will help
you manage your bibliographical data.
(5) Plagiarism. Penn State defines academic integrity as the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest
and responsible manner. All students should act with personal integrity, respect other students’ dignity, rights
and property, and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their
efforts (Faculty Senate Policy 49-20). Dishonesty of any kind will not be tolerated in this course.
Dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarizing, fabricating information or citations,
facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others, having unauthorized possession of examinations,
submitting work of another person or work previously used without informing the instructor, or tampering
with the academic work of other students. Students who are found to be dishonest will receive academic
English 30 (Fall, 2010), page 3
sanctions and will be reported to the University’s Judicial Affairs office for possible further disciplinary
sanction. I reserve the right to use Turnitin (http://turnitin.psu.edu).
The English department has a clear policy and definition that have been in place since 1980
(https://www.courses.psu.edu/engl/engl030_jth/PLAGIARI.html). Simply put, your work MUST be your
own. If you are uncertain about what use of a source is permissible, or what kinds of help you can obtain from
friends, ask me. Plagiarism is a serious offence: you can fail a course or be expelled from the university for it.
Don’t be a fool: the risks are serious, the potential gain is slight.
(6) Disability Access. Penn State encourages qualified people with disabilities to participate in its programs
and activities and is committed to the policy that all people shall have equal access to programs, facilities, and
admissions without regard to personal characteristics not related to ability, performance, or qualifications as
determined by University Policy or by state or federal authorities. If you anticipate needing any type of
accommodation in this course or have questions about physical access, please tell me as soon as possible.
(7) Teams. We will make extensive use of teams. Be prepared to lead, follow, and role play. There will be
five team projects. Teams will be arbitrarily assigned to the ―Utopian‖ (Red) and ―Dystopian‖ (Blue)
perspectives. The presentations in December will be the culmination of rhetorical preparation throughout the
course.
These are the topics for the team projects. The goal is to collaboration, not competition. The dates and
content will be explained in class.
Team Project 1
NationState:
Ideas &
Consequences
Team Project 2
Images as
Argument
Team Project 3
Delicious and the
Power of Sharing
Team Project 4
Wikipedia as
Social
Knowledge
Team Project 5
Red and Blue
Debate
Team Project 1 NationState: Ideas and Consequences.
What can you learn about creating a whole new kind of world based on assumptions that you choose?
Welcome to http://www.nationstates.net/ and the world of Jennifer Government. You will individually
―experience‖ your new nation and create individual reflections – as teams, you’ll reach some conclusions.
For this project you will be expected to:
1. Create and track your simulated world on Nationstates
2. Post a daily reflection on the course blog (What was privacy)
3. Review and comment on the reflections of your classmates
4. Complete a summary paper
Note: Refer to the course schedule and Housekeeping item #6 for additional details such as due dates and
posting to the course blog.
Team Project 2 Images as Argument
Every picture tells a story. Sometimes an image can convey more meaning than the written or spoken word.
A still image can, at times, be more powerful that a video. This project will require you to identify, tag, and
English 30 (Fall, 2010), page 4
share images and videos that you find compelling and persuasive. As a team, you will draw conclusions about
the power and peril of images as persuasive tactics. Use the hash tag e30-Privacy.
For this project you will be expected to:
1. Identify persuasive images/videos
2. (Team Exercise) Embed images/videos on the course blog (What was privacy)
3. Complete a summary paper
Note: Refer to the course schedule and Housekeeping items #1 and #2 for additional details such as due dates,
Delicious, hash tags, and posting to the course blog.
Team Project 3 Delicious and the Power of Sharing
Shirky argues for ―cognitive surplus,‖ but what could be done with the surplus if we mobilize our time and
passions collectively and wisely? We will tag and annotate Web resources related to the central themes of our
course – this is all preparation for the final debates and papers. Each of us will tag 20 resources that touch on
privacy or other themes raised in this class. Collectively, then we will have nearly 500 very current resources.
What changes as a result of this surplus? We will use the course hash tag, e30-Privacy, for the assignment.
Refer to the House Keeping section of the syllabus for more information on social bookmarking and
Delicious.
For this project you will be expected to:
1. Use Delicious to tag and annotate resources
2. (Team Exercise) Participate in the course debate
3. Complete a summary paper
Note: Refer to the course schedule and Housekeeping items #1 and #2 for additional details such as due dates,
Delicious, hash tags, and annotation.
Team Project 4 Wikipedia as Social Knowledge
Each team will create at least one new Wikipedia entry and edit three others – all on topics relevant to the
course. I will want you individually to create a Wikipedia entry for yourself and reflect on what happens. I
will then want you collectively to create an entry for me – and reflect on what happens. Finally, I will want
you to digest as a team the ―discussion‖ portion of a contested Wikipedia article. What’s going on here? What
is knowledge? Where does authority lie?
For this project you will be expected to:
1. Create an entry on Wikipedia
2. Edit other entries
3. (Team Exercise) Post a reflection on the course blog (What was privacy)
4. Complete a summary paper.
Note: Refer to the course schedule and Housekeeping items #1, #3 and #2 for additional details such as due
dates, Wikipedia, and posting to the course blog.
English 30 (Fall, 2010), page 5
Team Project 5 Red and Blue Debates. Drawing on the resources created for and consumed in the course,
each team will propose that XXXX should be done to enhance privacy or to prevent XXXX. I will assign
specific topics to each team two weeks before the end of the class.
Grades
Taking English 30 (as opposed to English 15) will not hurt your grade. Grading standards for writing in the
two courses are identical. The English department expects average grades to be far higher in English 30:
historically, most sections end up roughly half A’s and half B’s. Lower grades can, however, be easily
achieved. Note that there is no grade curve: you are not competing against each other. If all of you deserve
A’s (a statistical improbability, but conceivable), then you will all get A’s. Conversely, if you all deserve C’s,
then that is what you will get.
Your grade will be principally determined by the quality of the work you do in November and December.
This course is designed to change the way you write—and to reward improvement.
Category
Weight
Paper 1
5%
(Definition)
Paper 2
10%
(Analysis)
Paper 3
15%
(Comparison)
Category
Paper 4 (Refutation)
Weight
20%
Paper 5 (Proposal)
25%
Contribution to Class
20%
Final Exam
5%
Textbooks
Barry, Max. Jennifer Government (Vintage: ISBN 1-4000-3092-7)
Orwell. George. 1984 (Signet: ISBN 978-0-451-52493-5)
Garfinkel. Simson. Database Nation (O-Reilly: ISBN 0-596-00105-3)
Shirky, Clay. Here Comes Everybody (Penguin: ISBN 978-0143114949)
Zamiatin, Yevgeny. We (Modern Library: ISBN 978-0-8129-7462-1)
Zittrain, Jonathan. The Future of the Internet – and How to Stop It (PDF – DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK.)
New York Times (we will read this and discuss particular kinds of argumentation)
Used copies are fine! We will also make extensive use of online resources and Web sites.
Provisional Schedule: Subject to Change
Date
8-24
Readings
Tasks
8-26
Database
Team 1:
Activities
Syllabus, housekeeping procedures, introduction to
rhetoric
Brief history of privacy in the ancient world and the
English 30 (Fall, 2010), page 6
Date
8-31
9-2
9-7
9-9
9-14
9-16
9-21
9-23
9-28
Readings
Nation (ch.
1-3)
Database
Nation (ch.
4-6)
Database
Nation (ch.
7,8,10)
Database
Nation (ch. 11)
Tasks
Questions
Team 2:
Questions
Activities
early modern period; topoi for definitions;
assignment of topic for paper #1.
Introduction to blogs, Delicious tags, and
e-portfolios (Jeff Swain, guest lecturer).
Strategies for defining *anything*: 50 ways to talk
about privacy; discussion of the survey results on
privacy law
Reflections on
Activity: bring laptops; create your own simulated
the database
world (http://www.nationstates.net/) and track it for
nation – and
14 days. Post a daily reflection on what has
digital identity,
happened in your nation. Paper #2 will be a
2010.
reflection on this experience and will reflect your
critique of Barry’s novel, Jennifer Government.
Taking the Pulse Peer Review for Paper #1
of the Teams
Guest Lecture
Paper #1 Due (submitted in ANGEL). Bring hard
by Sarah
copies to class along with the PEER reviewed copies
Morrow, PSU
of your paper. Each team should have at least ONE
Privacy Officer good question to ask Sarah and each team will write
up a summary of her presentation and what you
LEARNED.
Barry, Jennifer Teams 4-5:
Government
Questions
Barry, Jennifer Team 6:
Selected Readings; Activity: bring laptops and
Government
Questions
create an ―argument of images‖ (images of Big
Brother). This is a team project.
Barry, Jennifer
What is CAPITALIZM vs. CAPITALISM?
Government
Facebook and
Privacy
Facebook and
Peer Review
Privacy
9-30
Bb
meeting
10-5
Orwell, 1984
10-7
Orwell, 1984
10-12
Orwell, 1984
Team 3:
Questions
Team 1:
Questions
Team 2:
Questions
Team 3:
Questions
Paper #2 Due. Introduction of topic for paper #3:
surveillance and safety: how to balance?
Comparison of 2 movies of 1984
Introducing Delicious and the power of sharing;
analysis of exemplary arguments;
Bring laptops to class; one-minute paper topic
proposals; comparison of how 2 movies end
English 30 (Fall, 2010), page 7
Date
10-14
Readings
Orwell, 1984
Tasks
11-4
Shirky,
Everybody
Shirky,
Everybody
Shirky,
Everybody
Shirky,
Everybody
Zamiatin, We
11-9
Zamiatin, We
Team 6:
Questions
Team 1:
Questions
Team 2:
Questions
Team 3:
Questions
Team 4:
Questions
Team 5:
Questions
10-19
10-21
10-26
10-28
11-2
11-11
11-16
11-18
11-30
12-2
12-7
12-9
TBD
Current Topics
Zittrain,
Future …
Internet, ch. 9
Zittrain,
Future …
Internet
Team
Presentations
(Red)
Team
Presentations
(Blue)
Peroration and
Housekeeping
Blue Book
Final Exam
Activities
Comparative Everything (politics, economics,
anatomy, religion); 1984 and surveillance; the world
after 9/11; and Mr. Tang’s argument that Orwell is
way too pessimistic (he survived the cultural
revolution)
Peer Review for Paper #3
Paper #3 Due; introduction to utopian views of IT
Activity: bring laptops. Contribute at least 150
words to a Wikipedia article related to this course
Peer Review for Paper #4
Paper #4 Due
Team 1:
Questions
Team 2:
Questions
Activity: bring laptops
Review for the
final exam
Paper #5 Due
House Keeping
English 30 (Fall, 2010), page 8
You will need to know how social media sites work, and you will also want to take full advantage of PSU
resources. A short list includes:
1. Accounts on the following social collaboration sites: YouTube (http://www.youtube.com), Google
Docs (http://docs.google.com), Flickr (http://www.flickr.com),Wikipedia
(http://www.wikipedia.org/), Delicious (http://delicious.com/), Gmail (https://mail.google.com), and
Twitter (http://twitter.com/). I will want to know your ―name‖ on Twitter so that I can track you; you
can track me as ―waverly‖ (http://twitter.com/waverly). For this course we will use the hash tag
―#e30-privacy‖ on Twitter and ―e30-Privacy‖ on other sharing sites such as YouTube, Delicious,
and Flickr. (Refer to housekeeping item #2).
A hash tag is defined as a tag embedded in a message posted on a microblogging service, consisting
of a word within the message prefixed with a hash sign, #. Providing a tag to content you add to the
web allows us to aggregate it, bring it all together, as a class for review and feedback. For example,
you can view all the images for the class uploaded to Flickr by going to the site and entering the tag,
e30-privacy, in the search field.
2. We will use Delicious (http://delicious.com/) as our social bookmarking tool. According to
Wikipedia, Social bookmarking is a method for Internet users to organize, store, manage
and search for bookmarks of resources online. Unlike file sharing, the resources themselves
aren't shared, merely bookmarks that reference them. Descriptions may be added to these
bookmarks in the form of metadata, so that other users may understand the content of the
resource without first needing to download it for themselves. Such descriptions may be free
text comments, votes in favour of or against its quality, or tags that collectively or
collaboratively become a folksonomy. Folksonomy is also called social tagging, "the
process by which many users add metadata in the form of keywords to shared content" For
this class we will use the tag e30-Privacy.
3. Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org) is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual
encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 15 million
articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world, and almost all of
its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site. Wikipedia was launched in 2001
and is currently the largest and most popular general reference work on the Internet.
4. Our course blog is https://protected.personal.psu.edu/jth/blogs/english_30_what_was_privacy/.
5. Media Commons at Penn State (http://mediacommons.psu.edu/) provides a variety of services to
help you envision, produce, and publish creative and effective multimedia projects. You have access
to experienced consultants, training opportunities, and audio/video production facilities.
6. The Blogs at Penn State (http://blogs.psu.edu/) is a simple to use tool that empowers you to publish
online quickly and easily. Simply stated, it is a website that you can easily update and contribute to
from anywhere you have an Internet connection. A blog is a place for personal reflection, a place to
take notes, share pictures, publish your movies, and more. The FIRST step is to acquire your blogs
space. Go to https://blogs.psu.edu and log in. Then I can add you to the course blog.
7. E-portfolios at Penn State (http://portfolio.psu.edu/) are dynamic, developmental spaces representing
your professional "self" on the Web. They are becoming standard practice for academics, students,
and professionals and typically include examples of skills and achievements, as well as a reflective
blog element. Here at Penn State we use the Blogs @ Penn State platform to create e-Portfolios
English 30 (Fall, 2010), page 9
because it is easy to use and allows you to update and contribute to your e-Portfolio wherever you
have an Internet connection.
8. RefWorks at Penn State Penn State
(http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/researchguides/matbytype/refworks.html) a citation software and
bibliographic management tool. It is Web-based and can be used from any location.
English 30 (Fall, 2010), page 10