Some rights reserved: Jason Pearce
Hi everybody,
And by that I mean everybody or anybody they! That is the thing about the Internet which makes it so powerful, information is accessible to everyone who has access to the internet (which is spreading globally in so many different ways). However this does raise issues of internet privacy and how you can keep something private online or is this even an option? When looking at internet privacy I have decide to look at it in similar fashion to a digital footprint (the two are quite similar really) in that their can be an active and passive footprint and active and passive privacy concerns.
Active privacy:
Active internet privacy is the stuff that you post and is posted about you (think Facebook, blogs, comments, photo tagging). This side of internet privacy can be controlled by monitoring your outputs (blogs, social media, twitter) as well as trying to stay on top of what others are saying/commenting. When I think about active internet privacy the first thing I feel is a sense of relief. Relief that the age of social media came just at the tail end of my college life and we all do things in college that maybe we wouldn’t want a future employer to see. But when I do think about that, I suppose that times have changed for the children and college goers of today. I think at the beginning of the social media era nobody really know how much people would dive headlong into sharing pictures, opinions, videos etc. online and the power that this might have. I think now we are a lot more aware of the power of social media with plenty of horror stories of people regretting social media outbursts as well as the positive stories of raising awareness, raising money for charity etc. This gives us the opportunity to educate children to be aware of what they use social media for and be careful not to overshare. Also we can make them aware of how they can use these tools to show their positive side. When thinking of this in terms of education I think children need to be educated on what they need to do without scaring them. Also I think colleges and employers need to give children a chance. The point of growing up is to make mistakes and learn from them, the “open door” social media era should not be held against them.
Passive privacy:
Passive privacy, I feel covers the things that most concerns people about the internet. What does “BIG INTERNET” know about us, what data are they keeping and how can I find out. We have all had that slightly uncomfortable feeling of searching for a hotel in a city one day and then realizing that every ad on the internet for the week is about hotels in that city. But then on the other hand, this is sometimes what makes the internet so useful- don’t think I have had to enter the terms “teaching” or “resources” in years. Google knows what I want!! However when you see videos like this it is concerning.
Click here to view the embedded video.
When what we are looking at online is not only not private but affecting the information that we can access it is worrying. Especially when you go on a “open new tab” chain using hyperlinks and can end up in a completely different place from where you started, (Please don’t blame me for google questioning your taste in music now) The amazing think about the internet is that your voice can be heard around the world and you can hear the voices of others. However if you are limited to a view that is only going to agree with yours you will never get the full picture. When you look at websites like this where you can find out some of the information that is being kept on you it does make you more aware of your privacy or lack of it. With regards to education, the children in my class have recently set up google accounts which has been excellent for using in class with all the various apps and sharing google docs. I think we need to make sure that children are aware of their own passive privacy and what is being recorded.
Overall I feel that internet privacy is something that is all about awareness. It is an impossible mission to try and keep everything private and the power of the internet is that you can share your vies and thoughts openly. We know that information about is accessible on the internet and we just need to try our best to control it so that it presents the picture of ourselves that we want to show. As educators our goal should be to equip children with the skills and tools they need to do the same.
Cheers,
Paul