[AISWorld] CJFE has launched Snowden Archive

[Chitu Okoli]

Hi colleagues,

I recently learned that Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) 
has launched the Snowden Archive, a searchable online archive of all the 
documents leaked by Edward Snowden that have been made public so far: 
http://cjfe.org/snowden

I'm not a privacy or security researcher, but I feel that privacy 
researchers in the information systems research community are uniquely 
qualified to explore the social implications of Snowden's leaks, 
especially since the dataset is now so easily accessible. (It would be a 
great topic for a doctoral dissertation, and now much of the data is 
available!)

I also notice that this archive release provides plenty of time for 
anyone who might be looking for a topic for EJIS's special issue on 
Security and Privacy 
(http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ejis/EJIS_SI_security-privacy_CFP.pdf, 
deadline December 31, 2015). I'm not in any way involved with that 
special issue, but I would love to read in-depth analysis of the 
implications of government spying on citizens in such a special issue.

Finally, for my introduction to Business Technology Management course, I 
spend a one-hour class session discussing illegal government violations 
of information privacy in the context of the Snowden leaks. I have some 
slides available for anyone interested:
http://chitu.okoli.org/media/pro/teach/comm-226/privacySnowden.pptx

Please note:

* In my lecture, I emphasize to students that they have to take 
everything I present with a critical mind, since I openly consider 
Snowden to be a whistleblower who has reported illegal government 
activity; I don't try to hide my bias. That said, I do try to present 
the other perspective to some extent, including relevant links on the 
slides.

* The blank slide at the beginning is a clicker question where I ask 
students how familiar they are with Edward Snowden and the NSA before I 
begin the presentation. Typically, 33% of the class doesn't know 
anything about it; 50% of the class is generally aware; and 15-20% is 
very familiar with the situation. (These are mostly first year Quebec 
business students, equivalent to the US sophomore year.)

* Since I'm in Canada, I give some weight to the Canadian dimensions of 
the government spying, but the slides are fairly representative of the 
US angle, with a fair bit of the UK angle as well.

Regards,

Chitu Okoli
Associate Professor in Business Technology Management
John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, Montréal

Phone: +1 (514) 993-6648
http://chitu.okoli.org/pro