CS8803: Security, Privacy, & Democracy

Georgia Tech, Spring 2026

InstructorTeaching AssistantTimeLocation
Michael A. Specter
Assistant Professor SCP & SCS
specter at gatech.edu		Shreyas Minocha
shreyasminocha at gatech.edu		Tues & Thurs
9:30–10:45 am		Whitaker
Room #1103

Security, Privacy, and Democracy is an interdisciplinary research seminar with an emphasis on topics critical to a functioning democracy – voting systems, privacy, misinformation, censorship, and free and open communication.

Prerequisites: This course is open to all CS graduate students or advanced undergraduates. Papers may require mathematical maturity, as well as a willingness to study works from other disciplines.

Communication: We will use Piazza for announcements and discussion. Students are encouraged to post questions, and submit anonymous feedback. To contact the staff, please email us and include the prefix “[CS 8803 SPD]” in the subject.

⚠️ Attendance: The class is heavily geared towards discussion and understanding of tricky topics. In person attendance and participation is required.

Structure: Students will read and discuss research papers, present findings, and complete an original project.

Note

This syllabus is a living document and will be updated frequently. Please check back often, and pay special attention to the schedule page!

Course Topics

We will cover both current and foundational research in applied cryptography and systems security, as well as in economics, policy, and law. Invited speakers from industry, government, and civil society organizations will offer guest lectures.

Grading

  • [5%] Class Participation
  • [15%] Mini Quizzes
  • [15%] Paper Presentations
  • [25%] Paper Summaries
  • [40%] Final Project

Project

Students will form teams of 2–3 for a research project centered around the topics covered in class. Teams will provide both a written final report and presentation of the work during the final weeks of the class. There is no page limit for the work, although a rough estimate might be 5–15 pages for a technical paper, formatted using the class template.

Exemplar student works will be published online on the course website for future class’s reference.

See the projects page for details.

Mini Quizzes

Throughout the class, we will have in-person mini-quizzes to test understanding of the work.

Drop Policy: The lowest 2 mini-quizzes will be automatically dropped from your grade. This includes those due to missed classes.

Paper Summaries

Every lesson will cover two papers on a specific subject. For each paper assigned, due at midnight EST the day before each class is a 1–2 paragraph summary of the paper.

Paper summaries should cover:

  • the main contribution of the paper,
  • the paper’s strengths, and –importantly–
  • the paper’s weaknesses.

Summaries will be graded pass/fail.

See the schedule for more information.

NOTE: Only papers under the “Discussion Papers” heading are required. Everything else is optional, but highly encouraged.

Drop Policy: Students may drop 3 assigned papers (total) throughout the class. These drops can be done without approval.

Late Policy: All students have 2 late days for paper summaries that can be used throughout the class.

Distressing Content Policy: Students are encouraged to preview papers for upcoming classes. Many of the topics covered in this class revolve around limits to free speech, cases where there are likely to be incidents of harm and violence. If a student has used all their drops and finds an upcoming assignment distressing, they can contact the course staff at least 24 hours before the assignment deadline. Such requests will be handled on a case-by-case basis, usually with an alternative assignment or readings.

AI Policy: No AI system, including {gemini, chatGPT, etc}, is allowed. Students must read the paper to understand the work.

Research Paper Presentations

Every week, students will be assigned 20 minutes to present relevant research and policy developments that have come out since the assigned papers were published. Students presenting are exempt from that class’s Paper Summaries.

Presentations may be delivered as a pair (20 minutes) or individually (10 minutes each for two students).

Prior Years