Information Law

Code:

MCI0009

Acronym:

DI

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Social Science

Instance: 2024/2025 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Web Page:	https://moodle2425.up.pt/course/view.php?id=4856
Responsible unit:	Department of Informatics Engineering
Course/CS Responsible:	Master in Information Science

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MCI	16	Plano de estudos oficial	1	-	6	42	162
MHP	6	MHP - Study Plan	1	-	6	42	162

Teaching language

English
Obs.: seguindo as linhas orientadoras da FEUP, nos 2ºs ciclos, o idioma de lecionação deve ser o inglês sempre que haja estudantes que não falam PT

Objectives

The course aims to provide an integrated study of the themes, concepts and fundamental legal concepts under the Right to Information.

In addition to the systematic approach of law applicable to different forms and contents of the information will be dealt with new issues arising from the interaction between information, law and technology, especially in the digital environment.

The aim is to provide students with the essential tools of understanding of Information Law based on examples that might be useful in their future activity, as one of the factors to be considered in development projects of information systems and communication.

Learning outcomes and competences

UC aims to enable Students to the following:

a) to know and apply the mechanisms that the law provides for access to, and reuse of, administrative documents;
b) to frame and apply in different areas the regime regarding the protection of personal data and privacy, especially in the digital environment;
c) apply the system of copyright and related rights in training or professional projects;
(d) understand the interactions between the legal regimes of information law and the law of communication, and the limits of freedom of expression and public use of information;
e) to know the main innovations of the GDPR, with emphasis on new processes and the role of new figures (especially the Data Protection Officer), including the impact of this Regulation on Information Science;
f) to know the main issues in cybersecurity, cybercrime, and liability for data loss.

Working method

Presencial

Program

1. The Information Law and the Information Society.
1.1. Legal framework.
2. European Union Law: key concepts
3. Copyright Law and ICT.
4. Regulation of Content and Law.
5. Protection of Privacy and Law.
6. Data protection and Information Science
6.1. Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and repealing Directive 95 / 46 / EC (GDPR).
6.2. The national dimension of data protection.
6.3. Data protection and US law.
7. Cybersecurity and Cybercrime.
8. Artificial Intelligence: Legal and Ethical Questions

Mandatory literature

ASCENÇÃO, José de Oliveira e VICENTE, Dário Moura; Legislação sobre Direito de Autor e Sociedade da Informação, Coimbra Editora, 2014
FAZENDEIRO, Ana; Regulamento Geral sobre a Proteção de Dados – algumas notas sobre o RGPD, Almedina, 2017
GOMES, José Luís Caramelo; Lições de Direito da União Europeia, Almedina, 2014
MAGALHÃES, Filipa Matias e PEREIRA, Maria Leitão; Regulamento Geral de Proteção de Dados – Manual Prático, Vida Económica, 2017

Complementary Bibliography

CASTRO, Catarina Sarmento et al.; Direito da Informática, Privacidade e Dados Pessoais, Almedina, 2005
Condesso Fernando dos Reis; Direito da Comunicação Social. ISBN: 978-972-40-3204-7
MARQUES, Garcia e MARTINS, Lourenço; Direito da Informática, Almedina, 2006
PAIS, Sofia Oliveira; Direito da União Europeia – legislação e jurisprudência fundamentais, Quid Iuris editora, 2016

Comments from the literature

- Additional bibliography will be provided during class to ensure the most up-to-date materials.

Teaching methods and learning activities

A set of teaching and learning methods will be used, which includes lectures, Socratic method (dialogue between teacher and student, in the classroom, which leads, through questions and answers, to the specific learning objective of that class), case study (the study of judicial decisions that represent the dynamics of a given branch of law or in a certain legal subject or institute), and problem based learning (which has as its central tool the analysis of complex, real or hypothetical cases involving legal and not legal, at a time when the student has not yet acquired the specific knowledge about the central theme of the process).

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	40,00
Teste	40,00
Trabalho escrito	10,00
Participação presencial	10,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	1,00
Estudo autónomo	64,00
Frequência das aulas	42,00
Elaboração de projeto	55,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

The 75% attendance requirement is not applied.

Calculation formula of final grade

Individual Component:

a) Completion of one (1) final test covering selected points of the syllabus (0-20 points).
b) Submission of 10 entries in the Weekly Learning Journal (0.20 points per entry = 2 points).

Group Component (0-20 points):

a) In-class presentation on a topic developed in a group.
b) Commentary on the presentation of two (2) assigned groups.

General Information:

• 
  

  The in-class presentation includes a mandatory Q&A session conducted by the instructor. Answering these questions is a required evaluation element for each group member.

  
  


• 
  

  Evaluation criteria for presentations:
  a) Overall quality
  b) Quality of scientific research
  c) Mastery of the topic
  d) Content relevance

  
  


• 
  

  Evaluation criteria for comments on presentations:
  a) Mastery of the topic
  b) Quality of the questions posed

  
  


• 
  

  The use of LLMs (Large Language Models) is permitted, provided that their use is properly acknowledged. Failure to disclose such use may constitute academic fraud. The language of presentations and reports is English.

  
  


• 
  

  Unjustified failure (as per the applicable regulations) to complete any of these components will result in a grade of zero (0) points for the respective component. If there is a significant imbalance in individual contributions within a group, a grade of zero (0) points may be assigned to the group component. There is no minimum passing grade for any component. Physical attendance in class is mandatory for all components, except for submissions on the Moodle platform.

  
  


• 
  

  A deadline will be set for the electronic submission of all materials related to the components described above, where applicable. Submissions must be made exclusively via the Moodle platform. Late submissions will incur a penalty of one (1) point per 24-hour period for the group component. For the individual component, late submissions will be considered "not submitted" and graded with zero (0) points

  
  

Topics for the Group Component:

Final Grade (FG):

FG = (final test score × 0.40) + (sum of weekly learning journal entries, ranging from 0 to 2 points, with each submission valued at 0.20 for a maximum of 10 submissions) + (group component score × 0.50)

Classification improvement

The writen subcomponent "test" can be improved in the same edition in the resit exam. The group component cannot be improved in the same academic year, but it can be improved in the following edition of the course unit. The remaining components cannot be improved.