COAP:Privacy

Introduction

This page includes the program and the resources for the module on digital (or Internet) privacy

Day one

Let's see how you are tracked

Install the Lightbeam and Ghostery navigator extensions according to instructions

• Lightbeam is a Firefox extension that will tell you who is spying on you. When you start it, it will track and visualize all third party websites that interact with your page and your browser.

• Ghostery is a Firefox/Chrome browser plugin that “sees the invisible web - tags, web bugs, pixels and beacons. Ghostery tracks the trackers and gives you a roll-call of the ad networks, behavioral data providers, web publishers, and other companies interested in your activity.”

If you do have a Google account (Gmail), see what Google knows about you:

• Ads settings
• History of your search

Quizzes on privacy

Most people don't seem to informed about the situation. See for yourself:

Santa Clara University quiz

• Hoofnagle, Chris Jay, King, Jennifer, Li, Su and Turow, Joseph, "How Different are Young Adults from Older Adults when It Comes to Information Privacy Attitudes and Policies?" (April 14, 2010). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1589864 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1589864
• Santa Clara University (web page with the quiz)

Online Privacy Questions (Hoofnagle et al., 2014, p. 17)

1. If a website has a privacy policy, it means that the site cannot share information about you with other companies, unless you give the website your permission.

True / False

2. If a website has a privacy policy, it means that the site cannot give your address and purchase history to the government

True / False

3. If a website has a privacy policy, it means that the website must delete information it has about you, such as name and address, if you request them to do so.

True / False

4. If a website violates its privacy policy, it means that you have the right to sue the website for violating it.

True / False

5. If a company wants to follow your internet use across multiple sites on the internet, it must first obtain your permission.

True / False

Offline Privacy Questions

6. When you subscribe to a newspaper or magazine by mail or phone, the publisher is not allowed to sell your address and phone number to other companies without your permission.

True / False

7. When you order a pizza by phone for home delivery, the pizza company is not allowed to sell your address and phone number to other companies without your permission.

True / False

8. When you enter a sweepstakes contest, the sweepstakes company is not allowed to sell your address or phone number to other companies without your permission.

True / False

9. When you give your phone number to a store cashier, the store is not allowed to sell your address or phone number to other companies without your permission.

True / False

Other privacy quizzes

Each student should take one and write down 1-2 surprising things.

• Privacy 001. From the canadian government, to sensitize people about the use of social sharing and networking sites.
• ACLU privacy quiz from the American Civil Liberties Union
  • see also their files on [https://www.aclu.org/issues/privacy-technology/internet-privacy Internet Privacy)
• Privacy IQ (from Awast)

Presentation of 1 or 2 cases

• Girls around me (Santa Clara Univ.)

Discussion

• Why does privacy matter ?

Regulations

Privacy and data projection laws in Europe, Switzerland and the EU

Information from government agencies

• Guide to data protection (UK)

Protection strategies

What can a user do ?

• How to Protect Your Online Privacy, by Irina Raicu, Santa Clara University, 2014.
• How You Ruin Your Privacy Online Every Day (And How To Stop), by Thorin Klosowski, 2014.

Day two

Reading list

Copies of these papers are available through Internet. The instructor will give you a login + password.

Young people's behavior

• Boyd, Danah and Marwick, Alice E., Social Privacy in Networked Publics: Teens’ Attitudes, Practices, and Strategies (September 22, 2011). A Decade in Internet Time: Symposium on the Dynamics of the Internet and Society, September 2011. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1925128
  • This paper represents an ethnographic study on what is teen's privacy and how it is managed
  • Read at least "Privacy in Public" (last section) plus another section on a topic that is of interest.
  • boyd-marwick-2011.pdf

• Hoofnagle, Chris Jay and King, Jennifer and Li, Su and Turow, Joseph, How Different are Young Adults from Older Adults When it Comes to Information Privacy Attitudes and Policies? (April 14, 2010). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1589864 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1589864
  • Quote: We conclude then that that young-adult Americans have an aspiration for increased privacy even while they participate in an online reality that is optimized to increase their revelation of personal data.
  • Skim the whole paper
  • hoofnagle-et-al-2010.pdf

• Marwick, Alice E. and Murgia-Diaz, Diego and Palfrey, John G., Youth, Privacy and Reputation (Literature Review). Berkman Center Research Publication No. 2010-5; Harvard Public Law Working Paper No. 10-29. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1588163 (80 pages)
  • Quote: The scope of this literature review is to map out what is currently understood about the intersections of youth, reputation, and privacy online, focusing on youth attitudes and practices. We summarize both key empirical studies from quantitative and qualitative perspectives and the legal issues involved in regulating privacy and reputation. This project includes studies of children, teenagers, and younger college students.
  • Read pages 60-65
  • marwick-et-al-2010.pdf

Using Internet data to predict behavior

• Michal Kosinski, David Stillwell, and Thore Graepel, Private traits and attributes are predictable from digital records of human behavior, PNAS 2013 110 (15) 5802-5805; published ahead of print March 11, 2013, doi:10.1073/pnas.1218772110
  • Quote: We show that easily accessible digital records of behavior, Facebook Likes, can be used to automatically and accurately predict a range of highly sensitive personal attributes including: sexual orientation, ethnicity, religious and political views, personality traits, intelligence, happiness, use of addictive substances, parental separation, age, and gender.
  • Read the whole article
  • Kosinski-PNAS-2013.pdf

Mobile apps

• Results of the 2014 Global Privacy Enforcement Network Sweep, OTTAWA, September 10, 2014
  • Quote: The second Global Privacy Enforcement Network (GPEN) Privacy Sweep demonstrates the ongoing commitment of privacy enforcement authorities to work together to promote privacy protection around the world. Some 26 privacy enforcement authorities in 19 countries participated in the 2014 Sweep, which took place May 12-18. Over the course of the week, participants downloaded 1,211 popular mobile apps in a bid to assess the transparency of their privacy practices.
  • Other summaries of this survey: European Results of the 2014 Global Privacy Enforcement Network Sweep - European Data Protection Authorities, Global survey finds 85% of mobile apps fail to provide basic privacy information, ICO, 2014 (UK), Data Protection (IE).
• Read all (short HTML pages)

Political action

• Liberty in the age of technology ACLU, 2014, (3 pages)
  • Quote: Increasing government surveillance worldwide raises tough questions for democracy and civil liberty. Left unchecked, the deployment of intrusive new technologies poses a profound threat to individual privacy. What we need, says Barry Steinhardt, is stronger regulation to ensure that such technology is used fairly – by governments and businesses alike.
  • Read the whole article
  • Kosinski-PNAS-2013.pdf

Presentations / discussion

• Short presentations of readings

A common text about digital privacy

(rough draft)

Additional resources

• Privacy online, Santa Clara University
• Internet Privacy (Wikipedia)
• Privacy by Design, A Canadian-based NGO with worldwide impact.