Privacy

Surveillance is prevalent in all of our lives, to different degrees, and each of us deserves privacy. It is a human right that has been increasingly complicated with the collection of our digital data. Such work seeks to advance democratic, ethical, and just uses of technology in schools and society. One of our initiatives at Civics of Technology, led by board member Dr. Morgan Banville, seeks to empower both students and educators to critically inquire into the effects of technologies on their individual and collective lives. On this page, you will find curriculum, resources, and events to use in your context.

Privacy Week 2026
Place Holder
Privacy Week 2027 (Coming Soon)
Decorative Image

What follows is a starting place for educators seeking to incorporate texts about privacy and surveillance into their classroom space. The reading list is broken into categories, with abstracts pasted below the citation from the article and/or publisher website, both for ease of access and to assist with choosing relevant texts for educators’ classroom context. Again, these are not my own words (except for my own articles!). This list is not exhaustive but rather extends from some of my own comprehensive exam reading for my Ph.D. in Rhetoric, Writing, and Professional Communication. Readers will therefore notice that while surveillance studies as a field are highly interdisciplinary, many texts are rooted in rhetoric, technical communication, and writing studies broadly speaking. In addition, many of the texts are U.S. centric to appeal and connect with the CoT audience; however, it is important to note that both privacy and surveillance are global issues. We will be working on creating a comprehensive global reading list as well. 

 

When we refer to privacy, we refer to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) who defines privacy as “freedom from intrusion into the private life or affairs of an individual when that intrusion results from undue or illegal gathering and use of data about that individual” (Garfinkel, S., Near, J., Dajani A. N., Singer, P., & Guttman, B., 2023). 

 

When we refer to surveillance, we mean “the collection of both visible and invisible data/information derived from those being observed, suggesting an application of power over the observed audience, who are often not informed of such collection” (Banville, 2023, p. 32). 

 

This work seeks to contribute to Civics of Technology's mission, aiming to empower both students and educators to critically inquire into the effects of technologies on their individual and collective lives. Surveillance is prevalent in all of our lives, to different degrees, and privacy is a right that each of us values. Such work seeks to advance democratic, ethical, and just uses of technology in schools and society. These are issues Civics of Technology readers and members are well apt to address and challenge in their lives and pedagogical practice.  

 

“The power that privacy grants us collectively as citizens is necessary for democracy–for us to vote according to our beliefs and without undue pressure, for us to protest anonymously without fear of repercussions, to have freedom to associate, speak our minds, read what we are curious about.” - Carissa Véliz, author of Privacy is Power: Why and How You Should Take Back Control of Your Data 

To submit questions for the guest speakers, please fill out this form.

If you have any questions, email Dr. Morgan Banville at morgancbanville@gmail.com.

About Data Privacy Week

According to the National Cybersecurity Alliance, Data Privacy Week is an international effort to empower individuals and businesses to respect privacy, safeguard data, and enable trust. Each Data Privacy Week usually has a theme and occurs during the last week of January. The goal of Data Privacy Week is to spread awareness about online privacy. The Alliance’s goal is twofold: “we want to help citizens understand that they have the power to manage their data and we want to help organizations understand why it is important that they respect their users’ data.”

For more information, visit last year’s Data Privacy Page: Data Privacy Week - National Cybersecurity Alliance

  • Morgan Banville

    Moderator and Civics of Technology Board Member

    Morgan C. Banville (she, her) is an Assistant Professor of Humanities at Massachusetts Maritime Academy. Her research and teaching are defined by the intersection of technical communication and surveillance studies, often informed by feminist methodologies. She examines how biometric technologies are implemented in diverse contexts, and her research was awarded the 2024 CCCC Outstanding Dissertation Award in Technical Communication, and the 2024 Best Research Article Award from the Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication (CPTSC). You can find her recent work in the Routledge Handbook of Social Justice in Technical & Professional Communication, Surveillance & Society, Programmatic Perspectives, and more.

  • Jaime Taylor

    Day 1 Speaker

    Jaime Taylor is the library systems coordinator at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She holds a master’s degree in library science from Simmons University. Her professional interests include race and gender in librarianship, rethinking librarian education, the capitalist library software marketplace, and challenging neoliberal management of libraries. Her non-professional interests include cats, old houses, riding bikes, and rowing boats.

  • Andrea Puglisi

    Day 1 Speaker

    Andrea Puglisi, MLIS, (she/they) is the Digital Initiatives & Technology Librarian at Westfield State University. Andrea's interests span a range of areas, including trauma-informed practices, data ethics, privacy, consent, and the absence of these values in system design. Andrea is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Data Analytics & Computational Social Science at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst with an emphasis on public interest technology.

  • Eliza Bettinger

    Day 2 Speaker

    Eliza Bettinger is the Director of Digital Scholarship Services at Cornell University Library.  In that role, she oversees the library’s consultation and instruction services related to finding, preparing, analyzing, and presenting data, digital images, and text-as-data in the humanities and interpretive social sciences. She also founded the library’s public-facing privacy services and consults with researchers and students on strategies related to doxing and harassment, international travel, and protecting the safety of research subjects. She is co-author of the Mellon-sponsored white paper “Disrupting the Digital Status Quo: Why and How to Staff for Privacy in Academic Libraries.”

  • Reanna Esmail

    Day 2 Speaker

    Reanna Esmail is the lead librarian for instruction at Cornell University. In her role, she oversees the library’s information literacy program, provides in-person and virtual reference help, and supports the research and collection needs of Asian American studies, feminist studies, gender & sexuality studies, game studies, media studies, and philosophy. Recently, Reanna was co-primary investigator on an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)–funded grant project to create open educational resources for algorithmic literacy. Currently, she is a columnist for American Libraries magazine, Library Freedom Project member, and a member of New York State Library’s Regents Advisory Council. As a library instructor, Reanna is particularly interested in critical pedagogy and providing services for various campus communities, especially those that have historically been underserved and underrepresented. Her research interests include intellectual freedom, targeted online harassment self-defense, data brokerage, and algorithmic literacy.

Resources from the speakers and about Previous Data Privacy Weeks

Example Assignments

Are you incorporating content related to privacy and technology in your classroom? Send your example assignments, readings, and/or additional multimedia materials to Morgan Banville at morgancbanville@gmail.com.

Privacy Reading List

Al-Khateeb, M. T. (2020). Toward a rhetorical account of refugee encounters: Biometric screening technologies and failed promises of mobility. Rhetoric Society Quarterly, 51(1), 15-26. https://doi.org/10.1080/02773945.2020.1841276 

Amidon, T. R., Hutchinson, L., Herrington T., & Reyman, J. (2019). Copyright, content, and control: Student authorship across educational technology platforms. Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, 24(1). Retrieved from: https://kairos.technorhetoric.net/24.1/topoi/amidon-et-al/index.html.  

Banville, M. C. (2020). Resisting surveillance: Responding to wearable device privacy policies. SIGDOC ‘20: Proceedings of the 38th ACM International Conference on Design of Communication (pp. 1–8). https://doi.org/10.1145/3380851.3416764

Banville, M. (2024). Exploring a case of surveillance: Pedagogical and programmatic influence(s) of biometric technology. Programmatic Perspectives, 15(1). Retrieved from https://programmaticperspectives.cptsc.org/index.php/jpp/article/view/64

Banville, M. C., & Johnson, G. P. (Eds.). (2024). Talking back through rhetorical surveillance studies: Intersectional feminist and queer approaches [Cluster Conversation]. Peitho, 27(1), 71–225. https://doi.org/10.37514/PEI-J.2024.27.1.05

Banville, M., & Harrison, K. (2025). Biometrics at the border: Reimagining opt out logic. In C. Morris (Ed.) Special Issue on Technical Communication In/Against Security Logics. The Journal of Technical Writing and Communication. 10.1177/00472816251384948

Beauchamp, T. (2019). Going stealth: Transgender politics and U.S. surveillance practices. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Beck, E., Crow, A. McKee, H., Reilly, C. A., deWinter, J., Vie, S., Gonzalez, L., & DeVoss, D. (2016). Writing in the age of surveillance, privacy, and net neutrality. Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, 20(2). Retrieved from: http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/20.2/topoi/beck-et-al/index.html 

Beck, E., & Hutchinson Campos, L. (2021). Introduction. Privacy matters: Conversations about surveillance within and beyond the classroom. Louisville, CO. UP of Colorado.

Beck, E., Goin, M. E., Ho, A., Parks, A., & Rowe, S. (2021). Critical digital literacy as method for teaching tactics of response to online surveillance and privacy erosion. Computers and Composition, 61, 102654. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2021.102654

Bender, E.M., Gebru, T., McMillan-Major, A., & Shmitchell, S. (2021). On the dangers of stochastic parrots: Can language models be too big? Proceedings of the 2021 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency, FAccT ‘21 (pp. 610–623). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA.

Benjamin, R. (2019). Race after technology: Abolitionist tools for the new jim code. Oxford, England: Polity.

Bennett, C. J. (2011). In defense of privacy: The concept and the regime. Surveillance & Society, 8(4), 485-496. https://doi.org/10.24908/ss.v8i4.4184

Browne, S. (2015). Dark matters: On the surveillance of blackness. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Burgoon, J. K., Parrott, R., Le Poire, B. A., Kelley, D. L., Walther, J. B., & Perry, D. (1989). Maintaining and restoring privacy through communication in different types of relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 6(2), 131-158. https://doi.org/10.1177/026540758900600201

Chen, C. (2024). Digital surveillance and control of Chinese feminists and a transnational response. In M. C. Banville and G. P. Johnson (Eds)., Talking back through rhetorical surveillance studies: Intersectional feminist and queer approaches [Cluster Conversation]. Peitho, 27(1). https://doi.org/10.37514/PEI-J.2024.27.1.06

Citron, D.K., & Solove, D. (2022). Privacy Harms. Boston University Law Review, 102(793).Conference on College Composition and Communication. (n.d.). IP Reports:The CCCC-IP Begins Its Third Decade: Join Us in Tampa at the 4Cs. Retrieved from:https://cccc.ncte.org/cccc/committees/ip/ipreports

Dubrofsky, R. E. & Magnet, S. A. (2015). Feminist surveillance studies. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Fernandes, M., & McIntyre, M. (2025). Drafting defensively, documenting authorship: An analysis of Draftback and Grammarly Authorship. Computers and Composition, 76, 102926. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2025.102926

Fojas, C. (2021). Border optics: Surveillance cultures on the US-Mexico frontier. New York University Press.

Gaeta, A. (2024). A disability theory of anti-surveillance tactics. In M. C. Banville and G. P. Johnson (Eds)., Talking back through rhetorical surveillance studies: Intersectional feminist and queer approaches [Cluster Conversation]. Peitho, 27(1). https://doi.org/10.37514/PEI-J.2024.27.1.12

Garfinkel, S., Near, J., Dajani A. N., Singer, P., & Guttman, B. (2023, September). 

De-Identifying Government Datasets: Techniques and Governance. National Institute of Standards and Technology. https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/SpecialPublications/NIST.SP.800-188.pdf

Gilliom, J. (2003). Overseers of the poor: Surveillance, resistance, and the limits of privacy. Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews, 32(3). https://doi.org/10.2307/3089153

Gurak, L. J. (1999). Persuasion and privacy in cyberspace: The online protests over Lotus Marketplace and the Clipper Chip. Yale University Press.

Hong, S. (2017). Criticising surveillance and surveillance critique: Why privacy and humanism are necessary but insufficient. Surveillance & Society 15(2), 187–202. https://doi.org/10.24908/ss.v15i2.5441

Internet Matters. (2025). Social Media privacy guides. Retrieved June 18, 2025 from https://www.internetmatters.org/parental-controls/social-media/

Jordan, R. (2024). Studying surveillance through hybrid concealment practices: A queer analysis of digital sex work safety guides. In M. C. Banville & G. P. Johnson (Eds)., Talking back through rhetorical surveillance studies: Intersectional feminist and queer approaches [Cluster Conversation]. Peitho, 27(1). https://doi.org/10.37514/PEI-J.2024.27.1.14

Kafer, G., & Grinberg, D. (2019). Queer surveillance, [Special Issue], Surveillance & Society, 17(5). Retrieved from: https://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/surveillance-and-society/issue/view/804

Kerr, I., Lucock, C., & Steeves, V. (2009). Lessons from the identity trail: Anonymity, privacy, and identity in a networked society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Licastro, A., & Miller, B. M. (Eds.). (2021). Composition and big data. University of Pittsburgh Press.

Lunsford, K. J., Logie, John, & Herrington, T. (2019). Ownership, authorship, & copyright [special issue]. Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, 24(1). https://kairos.technorhetoric.net/24.1/coverweb/lunsford-et-al/index.html

Monahan, T. (2022). Crisis vision: Race and the cultural production of surveillance. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Nissenbaum, H. F. (1998). Protecting privacy in an information age: The problem of privacy in public. Law and Philosophy. https://ssrn.com/abstract=139144.

Pollak, C. (2021). Legitimation and textual evidence: how the Snowden leaks reshaped the ACLU’s online writing about NSA surveillance. Written Communication, 38(3), 380-416. https://doi.org/10.1177/07410883211007870

Reyman, J. (2013). User data on the social web: Authorship, agency, and appropriation. College English, 75(5), 513-533. https://doi.org/10.58680/ce201323565

Hart-Davidson, W., & Ridolfo, J. (2019). Rhet Ops: Rhetoric and Information Warfare. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.

Rule, J. B. (1973). Private lives and public surveillance: Social control in the computer age. Allen Lane.

Saltes, N. (2013). ‘Abnormal’ bodies on the borders of inclusion: Biopolitics and the paradox of disability surveillance. Surveillance & Society, 11(1/2), 55-73. https://doi.org/10.24908/ss.v11i1/2.4460

Skinner-Thompson, S. (2020). Privacy at the margins. Cambridge University Press.

Stagliano, A. (2024). Disobedient aesthetics: Surveillance, bodies, control. University of Alabama Press.

Stalder, F. (2002). Privacy is not the antidote to surveillance. Surveillance & Society, 1(1), 120–124. https://doi.org/10.24908/ss.v1i1.3397

Véliz, C. (2021). Privacy is power: How and why you should take back control of your data. Brooklyn, NY. Melville House Publishing. 

Vetter, M. A., & McDowell, Z. J. (2023). A spectrum of surveillance: Charting functions of epistemic inequality across EdTech platforms in the post-COVID-19 era across EdTech platforms in the post-COVID-19 era. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 20(2). https://doi.org/10.53761/1.20.02.02

Vie, S. (2013). A pedagogy of resistance toward plagiarism detection technologies. Computers and Composition, 30(1), 3-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2013.01.002

Warren, S. D., & Brandeis, L. D. (1890). The right to privacy. Harvard Law Review, 193(4).

Webb, M. (2006). Illusions of security: Global surveillance and democracy in the post‑9/11 world. City Lights Publishers.

Young, S. J. (2023). Working through surveillance in technical communication. Albany, NY. SUNY Press.

Zuboff, S. (2019). The age of surveillance capitalism: The fight for a human future at the new frontier of power. Profile Books.

Additional Media