Tag Archives: privacy

Journal on Library vs Internet.

I performed a search for “data brokers” using Google and a couple of relevant results did float to the top.  I had to sift through a lot of questionable websites because they didn’t have an author or too strong of a bias, which brought their credibility into question. Another reason I doubted their credibility was because they weren’t really backing up their statements with any data or research.   While on the other hand when I used EBSCO there was less skepticism on my part when looking at the results, mainly because a lot of creditable information floated to the top.  While using EBSCO I did refine the search by adding privacy to one of the subject fields to make the search more specific.  I did find about a couple similar articles between the internet search and the library database search but about two of the results had a pay wall while using the internet search engine, the library database search allowed me to bypass a couple of pay walls since it was linked to the school’s account.

#followme

This week’s topic, metadata, was a new concept for me. I did not know what metadata was or that this type of information existed. Reading about it really shocked me. I am going to focus on the article and video from ACLU. The video is what really interested me because the tone and voice of the students perceived metadata as a good thing. However, I was in shock to learn what metadata actually is and how your whole life can actually be mapped out. For starters, I disagree with the police, as they state “metadata isn’t all that revealing, it’s just numbers”. Clearly, from the presentation, those two students were about to check timing, connections, links, and patterns of information. This to me seems like it is interfering with our privacy rights, although it also seems as if information is being hidden from the general public about what metadata can actually show. You shouldn’t be able to track someone’s life without a warrant. To me its equivalent to getting a person’s medical record chart without permission. Another thing to think about is that like I have previously stated, it is common knowledge, that whatever we put online, is at your own risk. My personal opinion is metadata should be restricted, meaning, unless there is a warrant or YOU want to track your life for self-reflection, then it should not be accessible by anyone.

Privacy recap, and readings/blogging for Monday, March 2

Today we discussed how definitions of privacy are evolving in a digital environment. If you didn’t get a chance to read through to the end of the longer privacy readings, please review the following sections: The Future of Privacy: Other Resounding Themes and Big Data and Privacy: Current Situation and Outlook.

On Monday we’ll discuss a topic at the heart of information ethics: plagiarism. Please read the following 3 articles:

Widdicombe, The Plagiarist’s Tale

Martin, Senator’s Thesis Turns out to be Remix of others’ Works, Uncited

Lethem, The Ecstasy of Influence, just the following sections: Contamination Anxiety, Undiscovered Public Knowledge, and the Key through to the end.

Your blogging assignment is one reading response blog post.

Bring your phones on Monday so we can do an in-class activity on plagiarism; I’ll set up tablets if you’d prefer to use that. It is not too early to begin thinking about your research paper topic; the topic draft & podcast assignment will be due on March 23. I’ll distribute guidelines next week. Questions? Get in touch!

~Prof. Leonard