By the end of the course, you will be able to
- Correctly answer questions about different fields of law, such as private law, public law, and criminal law
- Conduct your own research in sources of law
- Locate and interpret relevant legal sources (such as statutes, case law, EU Directives, and treaties)
- Develop valid legal argumentation
- Correctly apply the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in various situations
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- What makes law relevant for computer scientists?
- Do human rights apply on the internet?
- When do companies that are based outside the European Union have to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)?
- Can the GDPR be applied to new technologies, and if so: how?
- How can individuals contest violations of privacy?
- Which investigative techniques can be employed lawfully by the police?
- Can computer systems discriminate people unfairly, and if so: how should lawmakers react?
- When are platforms such as Facebook and YouTube responsible for copyright infringement by their users?
These types of questions are discussed during the course Law in Cyberspace.
The course offers an introduction to law, with a focus on what is relevant for designing, protecting, and using computing systems. We start with a general introduction to law in a constitutional democracy. We discuss the characteristics of, and differences between, private, public, and criminal law. We give attention to legal argumentation, and to various ways of interpreting legal rules. We also discuss what judges can do if two legal rules contradict each other.
The core part of the course focuses on some topical issues for computer scientists, such as privacy, data protection, discrimination, freedom of expression, cybercrime, and the regulation of platforms and artificial intelligence. We pay extra attention to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). We discuss, for instance, whether and how the GDPR can be applied to technologies that were developed after the GDPR was adopted.
For this course, students must read a considerable number of texts; more texts than in many computer science courses.
If you want to prepare for the course, you can read:
(i) Chapter 1, 2, 3, 10, and 13 of this book: Hage, J., Waltermann, A., & Akkermans, B. (Eds.). (2017). Introduction to law. Springer.
(ii) Chapter 1-8 of this book: Hildebrandt, M. (2020). Law for Computer Scientists and other folk. Oxford University Press.
Both (e)books are available in the Radboud library.
Such preparation is not required, however.
In the bachelor course ‘Law, Privacy, and Identity’, similar issues were discussed at a more introductory level. Students who followed that bachelor course have an advantage in this course. Nevertheless, students can follow this master course 'Law in Cyberspace', even if they have never done a law course before.
Instructional modes
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No specific foreknowledge required.
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Written exam. Possibly, there will also be assignments during the course.
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The course will be given in English.
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