General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW3075 |
| Course name: | Privacy and Data Protection |
| Programme offered under: | LLB Programme |
| Semester: | Second |
| Designated research course: | Not applicable |
| Specialization: | Not applicable |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | No |
| Course offered to non-law students: | No |
| Credit point value: | 6 credits |
| Cap on student numbers: | 30 |
1.2 Course description
This course will explore privacy and data protection in today’s surveillance-driven and increasingly interconnected global society. We will consider a variety of topics including: the concept of ‘privacy’, its origins, its development of political, philosophical and economic underpinnings and its conflict with free speech; constitutional, common law and statutory means of privacy protection; privacy electronic surveillance and the interception of communications, including the Interception of Communications and Surveillance Ordinance (ICSO); data protection under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, including the six data protection principles (DPPs) access and correction rights, trans-border data flows, the role and powers of the Privacy Commissioner, enforcement and exemption from the DPPs; privacy and social media; and the regional and international dimension, including data protection under APEC, Council of Europe, OECD, and EU instruments.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Michael Jackson | mjackson@hku.hk | CCT 807 | By email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 Be able to give a detailed explanation of the concepts of privacy (particularly, information privacy and data protection and surveillance (particularly, data surveillance , and be able to identify and explain the values at issue in laws dealing with these subjects.
CLO 2 Be able to elaborate and critically assess the key general laws (statutory and other) that protect information privacy and those that facilitate data surveillance, with special emphasis on the relevant laws in Hong Kong, at the regional and international level.
CLO 3 Be familiar with the relevant laws in several comparative jurisdictions (including in particular, Australia and New Zealand), and be able to comparatively assess the similarities and differences between these laws and the relevant laws in Hong Kong.
CLO 4 Be able to distinguish and explain the key differences between the different types of enforcement mechanisms for privacy and data surveillance laws, and critically assess the strengths and weaknesses of each.
CLO 5 Be familiar with and able to assess the relationship between Hong Kong privacy laws, and international standards for privacy protection.
CLO 6 Be skilled in researching and using Hong Kong, regional and international materials concerning privacy, surveillance and data protection, with special emphasis on using internet-based resources.
2.2 LLB Programme Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
Please refer to the following link: https://course.law.hku.hk/llb-plo/
2.3 Programme Learning Outcomes to be achieved in this course
| PLO A | PLO B | PLO C | PLO D | PLO E | PLO F | |
| CLO 1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 3 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 4 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 5 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 6 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Assessment(s)
3.1 Assessment Summary
| Assessment task | Due date | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| Class participation | N/A | 10% | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | |
| Research assignment | TBC | 30% | 2 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
| Final exam | TBC | 60% | 1, 2 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
| *Feedback method (to be determined by course teacher) | |
| 1 | A general course report to be disseminated through Moodle |
| 2 | Individual feedback to be disseminated by email / through Moodle |
| 3 | Individual review meeting upon appointment |
| 4 | Group review meeting |
| 5 | In-class verbal feedback |
3.2 Assessment Detail
To be advised by course convenor(s).
3.3 Grading Criteria
Please refer to the following link: https://www.law.hku.hk/_files/law_programme_grade_descriptors.pdf
Learning Activities
4.1 Learning Activity Plan
| Seminar | 3 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
| Private study time: | 9.5 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
Remarks: the normative student study load per credit unit is 25 ± 5 hours (ie. 150 ± 30 hours for a 6-credit course), which includes all learning activities and experiences within and outside of classroom, and any assessment task and examinations and associated preparations.
4.2 Details of Learning Activities
To be advised by course convenor(s).
Learning Resources
5.1 Resources
| Reading materials: | Reading materials are posted on Moodle |
| Core reading list: | TBA |
| Recommended reading list: | TBA |
5.2 Links
Please refer to the following link: http://www.law.hku.hk/course/learning-resources/