PG: For comments on social implications, see generic comment at end of Unit 8: All social implications: I have not commented on any, mostly because I like them as is (but with text editing) and felt I had nothing (important) to add. In general, they're not overly wordy, and the content is thought-provoking and good for discussion, so the real management is in the teacher's hand (and TG) not requiring much more curriculum edits from us. Of course, they deserve a careful re-read to clean up the text and to tighten some of the longer ones. As for the controversies (e.g., on 5.5.2, computers and war), I've stayed silent, but my own position (for what it is worth) is that our job is—as I've argued in the programming labs, too—to be educative/informational and think about what is to be learned, not just about what we want to "teach." I don't think we should be scared of a topic because it raises controversy, but I do think we need to find a way that doesn't saddle a teacher with situations they can't handle. Consistent with my comments on programming labs that it is not our job to show how smart we are but to show how smart kids can be, I also think that WE should be careful with the language we use so that it does not implicitly suggest our point of view. (It is impossible to be "neutral"—I'm not recommending that—ut we must work hard to be informationally correct without being propagandistic. To me, some of the language we've used and the claims we make feel expressive of our own orientation, not just correct information.)
In this lab, you will learn about your digital privacy.
On this page, you will consider what information is available online about you and reflect on your online data sharing habits.
Personally identifiable information (PII) is information that can let others figure out who you are and possibly get more information like your Social Security number, age, race, phone number(s), medical information, financial information, or biometric data (such as your thumbprint or face scan).
Personally identifiable information about you can easily get to people you don't want to have it. Posting a picture of you and your friends to a website reveals information about where you were and what you were doing. This may violate both your own privacy and that of your friends. If your phone is lost or stolen, someone else might get access to pictures or messages you thought were private. That's why data on cell phones is normally encrypted so it can't be recovered without your password. Having to type your password is a trade-off between convenience and security. But some recent research has shown that cell phone apps are often written to collect information about you and your contacts and location without your knowledge, mostly to sell targeted advertising.
Having PII shared online can have benefits. For example, it can be used to show you personalized movie recommendations or simplify online purchasing by suggesting things you are likely to buy based on previous purchases. Shared PII also has risks: It can be used for identity theft, harassment, kidnapping, fraud, etc.
One reason you are asked to choose a username when you get a Snap! account is to give you the freedom to express political or personal issues without tying those conversations to your actual identity.
United States law says that web sites must have a privacy policy that spells out what the site will do with the information you give them. This is a pretty weak protection; the privacy policies are typically really long, and written in ways that make it hard to find out what information is collected and what is done with it. In Europe, there is now a General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that defines what counts as PII, and limits what web sites can do without your affirmative permission—a definite "yes" from you, not just not saying "no"—regardless of what they put in their privacy policies. These regulations also state that the web site cannot deny you otherwise free services because you refused to permit the use they want you to agree to.
The GDPR is new enough that its implications are still being worked out. For example, to get a Snap! account, you must provide an email address, your own or your parent's depending on your age. That's the only thing Snap! knows about you: not your name, not your home address, just your email address. Is that PII? Some lawyers think it is. Other lawyers think that your email alone isn't PII, but it is when combined with certain other information. If it's PII, then Snap! must ask if you're in Europe; if so, must collect more information, such as your name, age, and address, to satisfy some GDPR requirements. Your age matters because the rules are different for children and adults. (In Europe, the cutoff age is 16; in the US, we must ask for your parent's email if you're below 13.) We need that other PII because if you ask to have your account deleted, we must do so at once, so we have to be able to make sure that it's really you, or your parent, asking, not somebody wanting to delete your account as a prank.
From a privacy point of view, using a browser is much better. If you're like most people, when you are on a computer you use a web browser (such as Chrome, Safari, Edge) to connect to all websites you visit. But on your phone, you may have a separate app installed for some sites (such as Instagram or Facebook).
Discuss these questions, and write down answers with as much detail as possible.
"What does organization X know about you?" is kind of a trick question because many these companies and institutions share the information they collect about you. This kind of data sharing is important—and problematic—because different kinds of information, while possibly unimportant by themselves, can become a serious privacy problem when combined. For example, your cell phone carrier knows every place you go and Google knows what people or businesses live at every address; in combination, these two kinds of information can reveal whether you've visiting a divorce lawyer, an AIDS doctor, or other possibilities that could be embarrassing (or worse) if revealed.