Another look at privacy
Wednesday, September 4, 2013 at 05:37AM Assuming the majority is correct - and privacy is a good thing - you probably have examples from your own law-abiding life in which losing your privacy created a lasting problem for you. Can you tell me a few stories like that?
No? Neither can i.
Scott (Dilbert) Adams's blog post "The Cost of Privacy" turns recent privacy concerns on their pointy little heads and suggests some examples of when giving up a bit of privacy is a good thing:
We tend to fear losing our privacy until it's gone. Then we wonder what all the fuss was about. It turns out that the bigger challenge than retaining privacy is getting anyone to care about you at all.
- Maybe you shared your medical history with your doctor and that allowed him to treat you more effectively.
- Maybe you put your personal information on an online dating service and it helped you find the love of your life.
- Maybe you showed your past tax returns to your bank and it helped you secure a mortgage to your dream house.
- Maybe you were secretly gay or lesbian and it was a huge relief when you came out.
- Maybe you installed a device on your car that allows your insurance company to track your driving history in return for lower rates.
- Maybe you enjoy sharing your life on Facebook.
- Maybe Google tracked your search history and later served up an ad that was exactly what you were looking for.
- Maybe your favorite airline gave you a free upgrade because they know you fly with them often.
- Maybe you put your work history on LinkedIn and someone offered you a job.
The problem lies not in sharing information but when:
... the government has privacy and you don't. I'm not in favor of that situation either. If the government were to operate with complete transparency, not counting some national security secrets, law-abiding citizens would have nothing to fear. The government and the governed would keep each other under control. So don't confuse a problem created by too much privacy (the government's) with one caused by too little privacy.
I would suggest that if businesses, like Google, also operated with transparency, many irrational fears would be eliminated.
So what are the implications for schools?
- Collect the data you need about your students. I doubt "Big Data" will be the solution to education's woes, but if test scores, formative assessment information, etc. help teachers create individual learning plans for students (balanced with human wisdom and caring), the data will used for good. In the spirit of transparency, let students, parents, and the community know exactly what individual data is collected and how it is used.
- Understand FERPA guidelines and share data only with those authorized to have access to it.
- Scrutinize service providers' data privacy policies, including websites and "apps" that require student logins.
- Use good security practices including having an effective firewall, good password policies, and secure data transfer protocols.
- Finally, and perhaps most importantly, personal privacy needs to be a big part of any Digital Citizenship curriculum. Students, like adults, will have different levels of comfort with sharing personal information. And that is OK. But these should be deliberate, informed choices, not ignorant submission.
It's all of us knowing both the pluses and minuses of sharing information about ourselves rather than rants of protest against or defense of business and government practices that will be of greatest benefit our students.
(Have at me, Miquel!)
Reader Comments (4)
Well, yeah. I tend to not put a picture of my face on stuff because I get tired of seeing myself everywhere, but that's more about freedom from having me looking at me everywhere I turn. I gave up trying to protect my contact information years ago, and I have yet to be contacted by someone I didn't want to hear from.
On the other hand, celebrities, children, and women who fit the cultural ideal of "beauty" can attract extremely unwanted contact from sick and bored people, so I totally support the need to wall off private information for them. My 13-year-old daughter is someone I insist step into her digital world with great care and foresight.
Hi Bill,
Quite frankly, we all got tired of looking at your face too! ;-)
Having a beautiful daughter myself, I understand your concern. It's really about helping our kids make good choices. I think we let our kids out of the house, but also teach them not to wander in dark alley, not to attend parties with illegal substance use, and to be selective about who gets their phone numbers - and the equivalent online.
Quite honestly, I am happy my day-to-day parenting duties ended some years ago!
Doug
My father got his ID snagged and had months of paperwork to get his credit rating fixed. He's a bit more concerned with sharing his info now.
Hi Ninja,
Yes, I thought about identify theft as well. I do think there is a distinction between sharing my lawnmower with my neighbor and having it stolen by a stranger. Most ID theft is via scams.
Doug