Tracking

What steps can you take to make sure you have control of your online information? Why is it important to lock privacy settings and set strong passwords?

 

Begin by ensuring that the information that you have stored on websites is secure. This can be done by using services such as ‘;--have i been pwned? to search your email addresses to make sure they are not registered on a website that has been compromised. But even if your email has been compromised, a randomly generated password for each account that contains numbers, capitals, and special characters will prevent others from accessing your information. Services such as 1Password and LastPass will generate and store your code while monitoring for online breaches.

Each time you visit a website, you are also being tracked. Those pesky pop-up messages asking for permission want to collect your personal data, including where you live and what you like. These sites inform advertisers, who in turn know all about you and what you are interested in. By installing software that blocks ads, your browsing experience will feel a lot more private.

Question: How can we prevent cookies from tracking students online? And how can we arm students with the knowledge to discern an advertisement?

 

Works Cited

Klosowski, Thorin. “How to Protect Your Digital Privacy.” The Privacy Project, The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/guides/privacy-project/how-to-protect-your-digital-privacy.

  

Comments

  1. KappaBattaApril 30, 2023 at 9:26 PM

    Matthew responding here...
    How can we prevent cookies from tracking students?
    Educate them. That short youtube video about cookies is a starting point. But for any online work that occurs in class, it's great to model. As the teacher, show students where and how to disable cookies. Have them practice it with sites you know are "mostly" safe so that they get in the hang of it. (It's taken me years to build the habit of opening the settings to "decline all but essential cookies.)
    How to discern advertisements? Critical thinking and examples are a good way to start.
    Here's a great NPR article on the subject. It includes link to studies that checked students' abilities (or lack of ability) to check websites for fraudulent information
    https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/11/23/503129818/study-finds-students-have-dismaying-inability-to-tell-fake-news-from-real

    ReplyDelete

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