Exercise

Suppose you (use your real name) are an aide to a hypothetical governor (Governor Karras) in a hypothetical state (the State of Mongo) where no state privacy laws exist to protect personal data. As you know from class material, there are already a handful of federal laws that already protect some types of data, like your medical and certain financial records. That said, many Mongo “constituents” (who include Mongo voters of course) have been calling Governor Karras’ Office and angrily complaining about a lack of protection of their other personal data – the collection and use of which they believe violates their privacy. As it now stands, their personal data is being collected and used by people and organizations without consent. Some constituents have also expressed their anger about the collection and use of their “biometric data”; other constituents mentioned something about “PII” and related concepts; and others called for the need for the State of Mongo to enact laws like the “GDPR”). Governor Karras wants to understand the problem better and perhaps propose legislation. But he needs your help, as he learned that you are taking Cyber Law 406.

Understand that Governor Karras does not know much about privacy and data protection issues, so he orders you to write a memorandum to him answering the questions below in plain English. Be sure to first review chapter 12 of the textbook, related course materials, and conduct some of your own additional research. Then answer these questions in your memorandum to him.

1. In general, what are data protection and privacy issues/concerns all about? Why are they important — why should constituents care? (Why should you care?)

2. Define and give examples of some of the terms that constituents used above, like biometric data, PII, the GDPR  and other significant privacy and data protection terms.

3. Based on your review of course material and research, identify and explain what specific types of personal data the State of Mongo legislature might enact in addition to data not already protected by federal law. In your memorandum, be sure to provide an informed opinion to Governor Karras whether laws like the GDPR are feasible (identify and consider pros and cons).

Evaluation

I will evaluate your memorandum based on:

1. whether you have answered every question;

2. the quality, accuracy and thoroughness of your analysis and familiarity with assigned material;

3. the quality and clarity of your writing (including grammar and punctuation, so please proofread);

Other Requirements

• Be sure to include a cover page with your title, name, class and date, and a reference page, if other references are used.
• The paper should be a minimum of 600 words, excluding the cover and reference page from the word count. Do not plagiarize.
• The memorandum is worth 25 points. Each day late will incur a 2-point deduction