How can we design computer systems that protect users' privacy? This special topics course investigates this question.
Course Summary. The goal of CSCI 2390 is to understand privacy-related challenges for computer systems, learn what design trade-offs we face as engineers, and to identify new research directions that might help address these challenges. We will examine research papers on distributed system design, privacy-preserving, and secure computing techniques, and discuss how to apply these ideas in practice. The goal is to understand if, and how, we can answer questions like these:
- What happens to information we entrust to web services (e.g., email, photo sharing, social networks); how do companies store, process, and share it?
- What requirements does privacy legislation — such as the EU's GDPR — impose on the computer systems involved?
- Can better protect this sensitive data, both against leaks and against unauthorized or unethical use?
Enrollment. CSCI 2390 is a graduate-level class, but undergraduates are very welcome to enroll! Please check the prerequisites and email Malte if you're unsure whether you meet them.
Logistics
- Instructor: Malte Schwarzkopf (
malte@cs.brown.edu). - TA: Kinan Dak Albab (
kdakalba@cs.brown.edu). - Time: TuTh, 2:30-3:50pm.
- Room: CIT 477 and on Zoom.
- Ed Discussion – Submission site
- Missive – Syllabus
Links
- Prior CSCI 2390 offering: Fall 2020, Fall 2019.
- CSCI 1380: Distributed Computer Systems and MIT's 6.824: Distributed Systems Engineering.
- MIT's 6.S974: Decentralized Applications.