User:Vtaylor/Computers and Society/2. Privacy and Freedom of Speech


 * Privacy represents an important area of society that is being impacted by computers. Just Google for your favorite recording artist or movie star. They don't have much privacy - there are pictures of them everywhere. Their personal information is very public.


 * Freedom of speech takes on important new meaning in cyberspace. While it is possible for repressive regimes to control print and broadcast media, it is much more difficult to control online publication. This is especially true when the source of the information is outside the jurisdiction of those endeavoring to control speech.

Your personal information may not be so public, but it could be. See how easy it is to find your phone number and address using one of the online services. While this great if old friends are trying to reach you, it could be a problem if the interested is unwanted.

In this topic, we will look at issues surrounding privacy and how to protect your personal information. The "worst case" is identity theft - a growing problem that is extremely hard for the victim to recover from. Being aware of these issues is an important first step.

Learning outcomes


 * explore the topic of Privacy through reading, media and related assignments
 * facilitate an online discussion about Privacy
 * explore web resources associated with this topic
 * learn about blogging and personal publishing on the web
 * consider how society is impacted by the application of computers and the Internet to Privacy issues

Keywords


 * risks, data collection, watching - surveillance, Fourth Amendment, personalization, privacy regulations, public records, communications - interception, encryption
 * principles, regulation, media, spam, offensive speech, censorship, anonymity, net neutrality

Study questions


 * How do you feel about your own privacy when you are using technology? Are you more or less concerned than transacting in other media?
 * How safe is your personal information? Do a Google search for your own name. Are you listed? How is your name used? Are there other people with the same name listed? Are they anything like you?
 * What are some of the risks? What are some of the benefits? Do you think these are in balance?
 * Do you think "big brother" is watching you? What can you do about it?
 * Do you want to be told about special offers on products and services that you have used in the past and are likely to use again? Do you like the idea of target marketing? Why or why not?
 * Should we have a National ID system? What difference would it make?
 * If more health data was collected, researchers could cure more health problems. Do you agree? Would you allow you health records to be shared with researchers if your personal identity were hidden?
 * Is there a right to privacy? How far should that extend? What limits are necessary?

How has the internet changed the meaning and application of the First Amendment's protection of freedom of the press? What is offensive speech? What should be prohibited or restricted by law in cyberspace? What must be done to protect children in cyberspace? How is this different from protection elsewhere? How is the Communications Decency Act being viewed by supporters and opponents? What are some of the outcomes that could result from the global nature of the internet? Access to information? Different points of view? Lies and propaganda? Should anonymity be allowed? Encouraged? Protected? To what extent can new communities develop over the internet? Are these "real" communities? What makes them special? Is the internet a communication system that is totally neutral - without conscience, principle or morality?

Study Questions from Former Students


 * Should distribution of information online and offline be regulated more strictly?
 * How do privacy regulations in the United States differ from those in the European Union?
 * Do the people who work for the companies that abuse personal information understand that they too are at risk or are they protected with anonymizers, encryption and privacy protection software?
 * Who am I if someone steals my identity?
 * What kind of benefit does a credit bureau get for selling "header" information from credit files?
 * Do you think setting up rules for children under 13 is going to work?
 * How can we cope with computer crimes?
 * Is there any way we can check when people steal our information?
 * Do we need tracking devices or will they end our rights to privacy?
 * Do you think there really is such a thing as personal information if everyone has access to it?
 * What do you do to prevent cyber-attacks?

== Selected media==


 * Steal this blog - "Oversharing might result in more risk and unintended consequence than on might think, especially in the long run. If you’re comfortable being a human homing beacon, that’s fine, we just want you to be fully aware of what that means and the potential risk it might involve."


 * [Identity Theft: How To Avoid It]
 * [Identity Theft: What To Do If It Happens]


 * Video: "Open Source Democracy" This is a talk given by author Douglass Rushkoff to discuss his ideas for politics and how they're impacted by computers and the internet. A lot of this information is discussed in some of the books he's written. This lecture was given as part of a computers and society class at NYU.


 * First Amendment's protection of freedom of the press


 * Communications Decency Act

==== Research Citations====

For this course, I need to know where you got your information. Did you make it up or did you get it from a reliable source? Did you get all the information from one place or did you include information from multiple sources? If some of the opinions were controversial, were they your own or someone else's. Citations in APA (preferred) or MLA format must accompany your research. Including citations is important and factored into the grade. The format is not graded but noted.

If you are considering transferring to a 4 year college, you will be expected to know how to write a formal paper with citations. There are at least 2 styles of citations - MLA and APA. These are usually "taught" and required in the transfer English courses.

There are lots of good reference books and online tutorials available. The DeAnza Online Writing Center or the library will be happy to help you learn more.

== Assignments ==


 * 1) Before you start the reading and the assignments, take a few minutes to think about what you already know about the topic - Privacy and Freedom of Speech. Write a sentence or two about this in the I know... discussion.


 * 1) Read the Study notes for an overview for the topics that will be covered.


 * 1) Read, view, listen to the selections in the Selected media list. There is no textbook for this course, so you will have to determine how many of these resources to read and watch. Use the study questions and assignments to guide your research. Have you found answers to most of the questions? If not, look for other sources of information. This is self-directed learning.


 * 1) Choose 3 words from the Keywords list. Find a web article or other online media that provides information about the words and how they relates to the course. Post the words, links to your selected web articles or online media, and a brief description about your selection for each, to the discussion 'Privacy keywords. Follow links provided by 3 other students, review their suggested articles and media, and write a brief reply to the author for each.


 * 1) If you haven't read the course Syllabus - CIS 2 Computers and Society, do it NOW. There is a lot of important information here.


 * 1) Review the  Discussion participation section on managing emails from discussions.


 * 1) To gauge your personal risk, and find tips for lowering it, take the nifty 10-question safety quiz at IDsafety.net. http://idsafety.net/


 * 1) Notice the little picture that accompanies my posts in the discussion forum. You can add your own to your profile - any small image file can be uploaded. For best results, it should be 100x100 pixels in size. Click on the "?" help button in your profile for additional information.


 * 1) Find one web article that talks about privacy and computers that you think is particularly interesting. Write a brief summary of the key point and a "critical thinking" question about the social issues discussed. What is the impact on society? Why is this important? Be sure your question will encourage discussion on why this is important. Post the web address of the Privacy article you selected, a sentence of the article that prompted your question, and your question to discussion topic Privacy and Personal Information. Facilitate your discussion and participate in at least 2 other discussions.

Note: Academic Integrity It is tempting to just copy and paste the description of a site from information on the site. If you do this you must put it in QUOTES. However, what I really want is your personal description of why YOU think this site is important. You are providing the link so others can go to the site and read the information there. Why is it worth their time to check out the site that you are recommending? Plagiarism is a serious violation of academic integrity and will not be tolerated. Many students are uncomfortable posting their own words but that is no excuse to copy the words of others and not acknowledging that these are the words of others. This is a UC transferable credit course. I have a responsibility to ensure that students in this course are working at a level comparable to what would be required to pass an equivalent class at a UC. Please don't make my job any more difficult. If you are copying something - say so. The original author has a right to the credit. That is what academic integrity is all about.


 * 1) Blog -- (weB LOG) - A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is "blogging" and someone who keeps a blog is a "blogger." Blogs are typically updated frequently using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the blog. Postings on a blog are almost always arranged in chronological order with the most recent additions or "posts" at the top.

Search the web and locate a blog on a topic that interests you. This could be the writing of an expert in a particular field or just someone who writes a personal journal that is good reading. There are many directories of blogs, too.

Write 3-4 sentences describing the blog that you think would be of interest to the class. Post your answer to discussion Blogs of Interest. Review the posts of your classmates, visit the blogs they suggest and comment on at least two. What does blogging indicate about society today? Do you have your own blog? What is your point of view? Why do you blog? How often do you write blog entries? Do you read any blogs regularly? Which ones? Why?

http://www.dcu.org/streetwise/privacy/privacy_handout_pg3.html
 * 1) Do you think you know an email scam when you see one? Take this quiz and see if you can tell the real corporate emails to customers from the phishing scams. I got 7 out of 10 right. I missed 1 scam but I would have ignored two real requests from companies I do business with.


 * 1) But can we trust other people? Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/ is an online encyclopedia with articles written and edited by site visitors. This experiment in creating an open-source reference "book" hosts millions of articles contributed by thousands of volunteers and is growing daily. Wikipedia receives 60 million visitors a day. Although Wikipedia's success has been tarnished a little by vandalism, some misinformation, and fights over certain controversial topics, the wiki concept of an open site maintained by its users, has been a hit. Look in Wikipedia for a topic that interests you or read the daily feature on the front page.

Be sure to look at the history and discussion for the topic you select. Find a contributor with a profile and read their profile. See if there is any controversy in the discussion. Some topics have caused considerable discussion as there are a broad range of views. For some topics, there is even conflicting scientific data to support opposing views. In the Wikipedia and Trust discussion provide the link to page you reviewed and a brief summary of the story behind the story.


 * 1) TED Talks: Every year, a thousand “thought-leaders, movers and shakers” get together at a four-day conference called TED (which is short for Technology, Entertainment and Design). http://www.ted.com

In this collection, you’ll find various talks presented at the conference. They usually run about 5-20 minutes. Attend a virtual lecture. Why is this interesting? Post the link to the session you visit and 2-3 sentences describing the topic and your experience to the Virtual Lectures discussion.

Discussion Tip: Change the Subject for your discussion reply message to something appropriate to your posting. The Forum automatically fills in the Subject from the message that you are replying to. Remember to change the Subject each time you reply to a discussion.


 * 1) Review Research Process at http://www.openc.k12.or.us/citeintro/secondary/process/ and Citing Sources information at http://www.openc.k12.or.us/citeintro/secondary/ and Recommended Search Strategy: Analyze your topic & Search with peripheral vision at http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Strategies.html

Many of the assignments in this course require finding and discussing current web articles related to the chapter topic. You need to be able to find web resources that apply to the topics being discussed. Based on the reading, take the quiz Research Process and Citing Sources.


 * 1) Just like a tattoo, your digital reputation is an expression of yourself. It's highly visible, and hard to remove. Explore how your online identity affects you, your friends, your school and your job - for better and for worse - and how to make informed choices. Take the self-assessment at Digital Tattoo http://digitaltattoo.ubc.ca/


 * 1) Reflection - Read Things You Really Need to Learn http://halfanhour.blogspot.com/2006/08/things-you-really-need-to-learn.html What is the best advice? What is the worst advice? This should be 1-2 paragraphs. Use the I Think... 3 assignment to submit your note.