Newswise — A legal adviser to whistleblower Edward Snowden is among the many leading contributors to a new free online course being run by the University of Adelaide: Cyberwar, Surveillance and Security.

The new MOOC (massive open online course) is taught by staff in the University of Adelaide's Law School and starts this Thursday, 21 May.

The six-week course aims to give students a deep insight into the multiple uses of the internet and telecommunications for military and law enforcement purposes, as well as human and civil rights issues, and the legal framework surrounding online surveillance and security.

The course features contributions from: Ben Wizner, Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, a lawyer who has represented National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden; cyber law and policy expert Professor Jonathan Zittrain (Harvard Law School, Berkman Center for Internet & Society); military law expert Professor Mike Schmitt (United States Naval War College); computer hacking and digital activism expert Professor Gabriella Coleman (McGill University); and Former US Assistant Attorney General, Professor Jack Goldmsmith (Harvard Law School), among many others.

"The key issues of cyber surveillance revolve around personal privacy versus national security – not just in a legal sense, but in a moral and ethical sense also," says one of the co-organisers of the Cyberwar, Surveillance and Security MOOC, Professor Melissa de Zwart from the University of Adelaide's Law School.

"How does the right to privacy, for example, match up with national security needs, and what kind of accountability and oversight is required to ensure those needs are being met without infringing people's civil rights? Is that even possible?

"Just how global networks can be hacked and surveilled will be dealt with at length, as well as how nations can conduct cyberwar between them, and what impact that can have on all of us," Professor de Zwart says.

So far, more than 10,000 people have enrolled in the free course.

For more information about Cyber101x: Cyberwar, Surveillance and Security, go to the edX website. Comments from some of the expert contributors to the course can be found here. The course starts Thursday 21 May.

Media Contact:

Professor Melissa de ZwartAdelaide Law SchoolThe University of AdelaidePhone: +61 8 8313 5304[email protected]