Anatomy of a New Data Science Course in Privacy, Ethics, and Security

This paper is an experience report describinga course created forthe new Master of Data Science program at the University of British Columbia.The course is meant to give students an overview of important and relevant concepts in the security world with a natural bridge to privacy and ethics topics. We do not focus ontraditional ethical theories in this course, but rather we explore information ethicsand the relationship betweenhuman dignity andprivacy. This coursemay be of interest to educators attending WCCCE because of its importance in an age of “Big Data”;the increasing and alarming number of real-world privacy, ethics, or security breaches/compromises; and the expectation ofsome employers that data scientists have an understanding of—and an appreciation for—appropriate management of personaldata. We are aware thatsomeschools donot offer a course on these topicsat the undergraduate or graduate level; so, this paper might stimulate some ideas for initiating such a course