As an educator, I am excited by the possibilities of connecting students to other students around the globe. I am also excited to expand my own Professional Learning Network (PLN) by reconnecting with former colleagues and making new connections with educators both geographically near and far.
As I work to both contribute and gain from joining online communities and creating my own digital footprint on the Internet, there is still a dynamic relationship between being closed (private) or open (public). Maintaining openness on the Internet is important to foster new relationships, get honest feedback, etc. But how much openness jeopardizes an individual to identify theft or other negative consequences?
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Closed/Private
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Open/Public
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Interacting on the digital level is still new territory for me, but Jon Kleinberg, a professor of computer science at Cornell University who studies social networks, states it well: “When you’re doing stuff online, you should behave as if you’re doing it in public — because increasingly, it is.”
Social media
Flickr photos
Blog posts
Search engines
All these and more are ways of collecting data on an individual. It is amazing now how much data can be “mined” from the Internet to put together a profile of an individual. When thinking about privacy and the Internet, often Facebook comes to mind.
Graphic by Sarah Wheaton
Facebook has changed its privacy settings numerous times. It is well illustrated in the graphic below.
Graphic attributed to Matt McKeon
(To see the most current version of this graphic: http://mattmckeon.com/facebook-privacy/)
Facebook has different levels or circles of privacy where a user’s information can be stored.
Friends
Friends of Friends
All Facebook users
The Entire Internet
photo by Mr. Greenjeans
When trying to relate online privacy to the brick and mortar world, I make the connection to a gated community or a school. Once in a community, you are connected to your neighbors and you have access to the community and facilities. When joining a new community, you agree to the rules and regulations set by the group in order to receive these privileges. It is crucial to know that the community that you are about to enter is well established, has good reputation, and is trustworthy. It is also important to thoroughly read your agreement before committing since you will be held responsible. The same goes for online communities.
While user agreements can be lengthy, some points that can help a reader focus are the following:
- Start at the end
- Can an account be cancelled?
- Who owns the data?
- Does the website participate in seal programs such as the Better Business Bureau, Truste, or Verisign
When I did an Internet search of myself a while ago, I was surprised that my Facebook information was coming up in the search. Since I keep my Facebook account primarily for non-work related, I immediately went to Facebook and changed my settings from open to everyone on the Internet to only friends. I performed a search again, and the Facebook entries did not appear. Knowing that privacy settings can change and knowing how privacy settings can drastically change how much information everyone on the Internet has access too is crucial when trying to maintain a certain level of privacy.
By creating two accounts in Facebook, for example, I can attempt to separate my personal and professional life.
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Private account |
Professional account |
| Searchability |
Only within Facebook |
Available to all search engines |
| User information |
Only available to friends |
Available to all search engines |
When considering privacy online, it is best to think of activities on the Internet not being private. In the article, “How Privacy Vanishes Online,” Steve Lohr makes the actions of the large search engines apparent. While search engine companies argue that data recorded about user searches helps the consumer, it is surprising to find that the data stored is for six to eighteen months. During that time, how the data is utilized and who has access to the data are two big questions that need to be asked on a regular basis.
Yahoo-90 days (18 months beginning in July 2011)
Bing (formerly MSN/Windows Live)-6 months
Google-9 months
As way of avoiding any data being gathered, a company named Startpage (www.startpage.com) created a search engine that does not record users’ IP addresses at all. The company concluded, “If the data is not stored, users privacy can’t be breached.”
I was also surprised to find that it was recommended to keep e-mail and browser information separate as a way of not giving one company a large amount of user data—search inquiries plus e-mail data could provide a substantial amount of data to make inferences from.
“Personal privacy is no longer an individual thing. In today’s online world, what your mother told you is true, only more so: people really can judge you by your friends.” Harold Abelson, computer science professor at M.I.T.
There is a whole lot of truth to Abelson’s statement. When I do an image search for my name, the top results come from pictures that I my friend posted. So I can take steps to keep my personal information, private, but making sure my friends and acquaintances do the same is not as easy.
On the classroom side of things, I had one student recently ask me about a letter that he was writing to send off to his sister-school buddy. I explained that he could include information about his hobbies, interests, and family. The student was very open about being hesitant to give details about himself and his family. I later explained that the letter that was going to be sent would be in hard copy format and not electronically. Once I informed the student of this, he was much more ready to share basic personal information.
While privacy settings may be in place, knowing that information posted on the Internet, can easily be made available to everyone on the Internet status due to policy changes, a slipped click of the mouse, etc. Therefore, posting thoughtfully and as if it were an act in public is a good filter to use. It is now easier and faster to reach out and connect to people than ever imagined. In the end, balancing openness with privacy is something that we must come to terms with as individuals. It is easy to be safe and lock myself in my own insular home or community, but to venture out and engage in new learning communities is enticing and the future of education.
Photo/Graphic Credits:
Facebook Privacy Graphic-Matt McKeon (To see the most current version of this graphic: http://mattmckeon.com/facebook-privacy/)
Gate image-Mr. GreenJeans http://www.flickr.com/photos/gaylon/124507320/sizes/m/in/photostream/
Mark Zuckerberg Graphic-Sarah Wheaton http://www.flickr.com/photos/graycious17/5574919554/in/pool-1604084@N20/
interior door http://www.furni-ture.com/tag/latest-interior-doors
interior door http://babyarka.com/2011/10/07/living-room-modern-interior-doors/
Reference/Additional Resources:
Grant, Kevin Douglas. “Privacy on the Internet”. Neon Tommy. November 13, 2010. http://www.neontommy.com/news/2010/11/obama-administration-finally-acting-web-privacy
Lohr, Steve. “How Privacy Vanishes Online”. New York Times. March 16, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/technology/17privacy.html
Miller, Claire Cain. “Google’s New Search Results Raise Privacy and Antitrust Concerns”. New York Times. January 19, 2012 http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/12/googles-new-search-results-raise-privacy-and-antitrust-concerns/?scp=3&sq=privacy&st=cse
Perez, Sarah. “The 3 Facebook Settings Every User Should Check Now”. ReadWriteWeb. January 20, 2010. http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_3_facebook_settings_every_user_should_check_now.php
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse http://www.privacyrights.org/
Truste http://www.truste.com/privacy-program-requirements/
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