Data Privacy for the Average American

This non-technical course was designed from the ground up to be made for individuals who wish to learn more about data privacy but don’t want to go through boring technical lectures to do so. Instead this course provides quick deep dives into two of the worlds most popular social media applications, TikTok and Facebook, to see how they collect and use consumer data. Every section ends with a light fun quiz to cement information from that section without turning into a slog for the student. Relevant real-life events are utilized in each deep dive to help see how ideas expressed in the products Privacy Policies and Terms of Service are used in the real world. Finally, the course closes with a discussion about four current data protection laws, the Privacy Act of 1974, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the California Consumer Privacy Act, and the General Data Protection Regulation. The learner should leave this course with an understanding of how Facebook and TikTok operate in regards to the collection and usage of consumer data as well as an understanding of some of the data protections available within the United States and the European Union. Additionally, hopefully they leave this course with a better understanding of why data privacy matters and their personal information by extension.