Special Topics in Data Privacy
CS101C, Section 01
Spring 2013

Academic Integrity

This course will require you to present and build on many existing sources. Proper attribution of ideas, text, and paraphrased text is required, in both oral and written presentation.

Homeworks

You are strongly encouraged to collaborate with your classmates on homework problems, but each person must write up the final solutions individually. You should note on your homework specifically which problems were a collaborative effort and with whom. You may not search online for solutions, but if you do use research papers or other sources in your solutions, you must cite them.

Late policy: We will allocate each student 2 tokens at the beginning of the term. Each of these tokens can be used to buy a 24-hour extension on either homework during the term (you may spend them both on the same homework assignment). You should write clearly on your homework that you are using a token, and how many you are using. You cannot get extra tokens and zero credit will be given to late assignments.

Checkpoints

Many classes will include a 5-minute "checkpoint" exercise in class, to evaluate understanding. These are graded on either a 0/1 or 0/1/2 scale, and there is no makeup available.

Course Blog

Each student will contribute to the course blog in three ways: responding to posts (which counts towards class participation), an individual post, and a group post. Of course, you are also welcome to contribute more.The honor code is in effect for all posts. Please be sure to avoid inappropriate or offensive commentary.

• Individual posts:
  Your individual blog post should be on a recent news item related to the topic of data privacy. It should include a link to the news item, plus two to three paragraphs of discussion, including a discussion that links the item to the course content. The posts should be made via Piazza by posting a new question with the “blog" tag. Other students are encouraged to comment/discuss on the post using the “student answer" wiki section. The posts will be graded based on the quality of the insights in them, the quality of the writing, the relevance to the class, and their novelty. Please make your post within the date range below corresponding to the first letter(s) of your last name. No credit for late posts will be given.
  
  

  First letters of family name	Date range
  A-Cha	April 1 - April 10
  Che-D	April 8 - April 17
  E-H	April 15 - April 24
  I-K	April 22 - May 1
  L	April 29 - May 8
  M-O	May 6 - May 15
  P-R	May 13 - May 22
  S-T	May 20 - May 29
  U-Z	May 27 - June 5



• Group posts:
  Each group will conduct a blog-based discussion of a non-computer science paper on privacy (for example, in philosophy or law). Information on group posts and their due dates will be posted to Piazza.

Reading and Research Groups

During the week of April 15, students will be matched to reading and research groups, each with an assigned topic. Each reading and research group must fix a weekly 90-minute meeting time that all members can commit to attend. You will be assigned a group facilitator who will also attend on a regular basis. Each group's assigned topic comes with two research papers that all group members are expected to read on their own. Group meeting times should be used to help clarify general questions about the course material, to discuss the assigned papers, to prepare to present that material as a group in an 85-minute lecture, and to identify and discuss open research problems. Each group will also complete a group blog post (more information above). Research topics, associated papers, and suggested directions for inquiry will be posted soon to Piazza.

Teaching

The instructor will offer a set of core course topics that will be taught by students in the class over the course of the term. Each reading and research group must teach one class during the term, and the assignment to topics and teaching dates will occur during the week of April 15, at the same time as the asssignment to groups. The speaking time should be (approximately) evenly split among the group members. When it is your group's turn to teach, your responsibilities are:

• Email the instructor and your group facilitator an outline of the material your group will cover, indicating who will teach what. (One email for the entire group is sufficient.)
• Design and distribute a 5-minute checkpoint for your classmates to complete. This should be designed help your classmates determine whether they retained the most important points of your presentation. (This is a single checkpoint for the entire group.)
• Allow five minutes at the start of your session for the previous group's checkpoint (if you are the final group, your checkpoint will be given at the end of your session). Allow five minutes at the end of your session for your classmates to complete evaluation forms.
• One week after you teach, each individual group member must email the instructor and his/her group facilitator a brief (one- to two-paragraph) self-assessment of your teaching session. This should be based in part on the results of the checkpoint you designed.

Project

The course project will involve substantial engagement with a current topic of research in data privacy. Your group should strive to produce something novel, such as new algorithms, models, or theorems; new experimental results; or a new synthesis and presentation of existing results, providing novel insights or perspectives.
The project involves two deliverables:

• A proposal describing related work and the intended topic and scope of the project. Details on the proposal requirements will be posted to Piazza.
• The final write-up: a technical report describing the problem you considered, related work, your approach, and your results. More details will be posted to Piazza.