Exercise – Prepare a Memo on Topics of Privacy and Data Protection
You have land
Exercise – Prepare a Memo on Topics of Privacy and Data Protection
You have landed a position as an intern (paid) for the governor of Virginia.
Assume that Virginia has not enacted any privacy laws to protect the personal information/data of its citizens.
Hearing about recent incidents of thefts and misuse of personal information/data, Virginians have been calling the Governor’s office to angrily complain about the lack of protection of their personal information/data. A large number of the callers believe that their privacy is being violated. As it now stands, their personal information/data is being collected and used by people and organizations – sometimes with and sometimes without their consent. Some citizens express concern about the collection and use of their “biometric data”; others mention something about “PII”; and others call for Virginia to enact a law like the “GDPR”. The Governor wants to understand the problem better and perhaps propose legislation (the Governor is up for re-election in November). The Governor learned that you are taking a Cyber Law course and has turned to you for help understanding the issues.
Prepare a memorandum that addresses the questions below. Be sure to first review chapter 12 of the textbook, related course materials, and conduct some of your own additional research.
Provide a one paragraph overview for the governor that discusses: (1) what is privacy; (2) what are personal information/data protection concerns all about; (3) why protection of personal information/data protection is important to citizens (i.e., what bad things can happen without protection?). Also provide her with examples of biometric data and PII. (Max 10 points)
Provide a paragraph that describes the GDPR: who is covered; what areas does it encompass (broadly speaking) – for instance, the data protection principles it sets forth. (Max 5 points)
Provide a paragraph on what other states are doing to protect privacy. Give a specific example of a law enacted by another state. (Max 5 points)
Provide a paragraph giving your opinion whether Governor Tar-Míriel should push to have Númenor enact a personal information/data protection law or whether she should focus on trying to get the Federal government to pass such a law. Identify and discuss the pros and cons of each course of action. (Max 5 points)
USE COMMON MEMO FORMAT:
To: Governor Commonwealth of Virginia
From: Your name
Subject:
Date:
EVALUATION
The paper is worth 25 points. I will evaluate your paper based on these criteria:
You fully answered all four questions.
The quality, clarity, and thoroughness of your analysis.
The quality and clarity of your writing (including grammar and punctuation, so please proofread.) **I’ve been lenient as to grammar, syntax, spelling, etc., on discussion boards, but I expect this written product be of the quality you would submit to a (demanding) supervisor at work.
OTHER REQUIREMENTS
Be sure to include a cover page with your title, name, class, date, and a reference page (if other references are used).
The paper should be a minimum of 700 words – not including the to/from/subject/date information.
Submit your paper via Canvas SafeAssign by 11:59 p.m., Saturday, March 16th. Do not plagiarize. Note that you will be able to view your turnitin Originality Report, just as I will. Cite sources that you use.
Each day late will result in up to a 2- point deduction from your raw score.
PROFESSOR K’S FRIENDLY ADVICE
Be familiar with all material in Module’s 5 and 6. Feel free to conduct external research and cite those materials if you’re inclined. Advocate by explanation, not just assertion. What do I mean by that? This is advocating by assertion: “I believe that a data privacy law is a good idea.” That’s not really helpful. This is advocating by example: “A data privacy law that covers A, B, & C is a good idea because it would accomplish the following things. For instance … ”
Do not just regurgitate/cut-and-paste from the Module materials, but rather use that material as a springboard for your own writing and ideas.