Does Privacy Matter?

“Privacy is not something that I'm merely entitled to, it's an absolute prerequisite.” Marlon Brando

I am a firm believer in privacy. I have made several conscious decisions about what information I do and do not share about myself on the Internet. Not only that, but because I am a private person, and despite all of the hype surrounding social networking sites, I have chosen not to join one. I am generally quite cautious about what I use the Internet for, and as a result, this week's topic gave me a few more reasons to feel comfortable in my decision not share all with the World Wide Web.

I began my exploration of this week's topic with the YouTube videos about Google and its efforts to maintain its user's privacy. I found these videos informative because I really didn't understand the function of IP addresses and cookies. At least now I have a better understanding of what these are and how they identify my computer. I, perhaps naively, found these videos reassuring in that they seemed to indicate that people's privacy was important to Google, and that they were making efforts to ensure privacy. However, with all of the security measures that the U.S.A. has implemented in recent years, one has to wonder if these videos are only a means to pacify members of society who are questioning what information is being collected about them.

Most importantly, I had a chance to think about the privacy of my students, which is of utmost importance to me. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner makes a good point when it states that "[w]hile many young people recognize the risks associated with their online activities, they lack the knowledge and the tools to mitigate those risks." Working with high school students, this is very evident to me. Almost daily I am surprised with what my students are willing to reveal or share about themselves on line. Not only that, but they freely admit that they do not read the privacy policies, because they are confident that there is nothing for them to worry about because so many people are using the same sites that they are joining. Beliefs such as these concern me, and I try my best to explain to students that they should be wary about what they share, because once the information is on the Internet, it is almost impossible to revoke it.

I am very aware of my students' privacy, and since I have been trying to implement/use many of the Web 2.0 applications that are available to me, I have had to come up with some ways to ensure that they are able to use these "collaborative" tools in a somewhat "private" way.

• When using blogs, VoiceThread and Animoto with my students, I ask them to use only their first names and last initial to identify themselves.
• I do not allow students to post a photo of themselves on Blogger or VoiceThread, rather I ask them to find a photo on the Internet that represents them (I will have to remember to encourage them to use Creative Commons photos from now on).
• I have all of my students' blogs connected to my Bloglines, but I have them listed as private so not everyone can view what my students are writing.
• When students set up their blogs they adjust their settings so that search engines cannot find their blogs, and their blogs are not added to Blogger's listings.

Having students set up these applications using the above criteria does limit the "collaborative" aspect of Web 2.0, but because I am still "playing" with these tools, I haven't worked out all of the details yet.

What I have come to realize after this week's readings, is that it is up to me and other educators to teach students about online safety and privacy. Even though our students are digital natives, we can't expect them to know everything about the digital world. I appreciated Doug Johnson's sage advice in the Bloggers Cafe article "Lighting Lamps", and I think that I will share these points with my students:

• Write assuming your boss [mom, teacher, friend] is reading
• Gripe globally; praise locally
• Write for edited publications
• Write out of goodness.

Also, the YouTube videos Privacy and Social Networks and Does what happens in the Facebook stay in the Facebook? are a couple of videos that I am going to share with my students. The more informed they are about the information that is collected about them, the more likely they are to be a little more discrete. Furthermore, it would be a good idea to have students look at some of the privacy policies and really read them to see what they say.