Welcome to this course about privacy. We are thrilled to see that you are interested and will provide you with a comprehensive study of this intriguiging subject. We hope this course will enthuse you to look further into privacy and personal data regulation. Especially in the light of recent events it becomes more important to know about your (alleged!?) rights and freedoms. After showing you a number of interesting examples of privacy in recent events, this course continues to provide you with an historic introduction, and varying cases and court decisions. It will guide you through the cultural and legal changes in perception of privacy over time. Sometimes with a more technological perspective. Notably, in the Western world differences have accumulated over time and the differences between the USA and Europe will be explained extensively in the follow-up courses. Through video lectures and quizzes we endeavor to build a solid foundation for you to construct a well-founded opinion on privacy. Last but not least we sincerely hope you enjoy the course! Prof.mr.dr. Jan Smits