Readers' Advisory and online privacy

I actually appreciate the fact that, when I go to Facebook or see a panel of Google Network advertisements, I generally see advertisements for things I might, conceivably, be interested in buying. The most annoying thing about advertising, to my mind, is that for most of my life I have been deluged with come-ons for products I had no interest in: perfumes and luxury cars and the latest pharmaceutical advance that will alleviate some minor annoyance with the possible side effect of immediate horrible death. Sonny Bunch. Stop freaking out about Cambridge Analytics. Targeted ads are great. Washington Post, March 22, 2018

Amazon thinks I need a "mouse jiggler." For those of you in the technology slow lane*, a mouse jiggler is a $20 device that plugs into the USB port of you computer and simulate a mouse movement now and then so that your computer's energy saving mode doesn't kick and the screen doesn't go dark.  It is a tool for those working in environments whose paranoia-driven tech departments don't allow individuals to change the sleep settings on their computers, I guess. (Or for those who do not know their operating systems very well.)

So Amazon's ad on my Facebook page got it "sort of" right. I love tech gizmos, but I don't have a need for a mouse jiggler. It is kind of fun to look at the dodads that pop up every now and then for tech tools, hiking equipment, and books in the mystery and sci-fi genres that Amazon via Facebook thinks I cough up some dough for. 

The brouhaha over Cambridge Analytics use of Facebook derived data feels totally overblown to me. Analyzing one's audience so target marketing can be more focused is not exactly revolutionary or confined to the social media environment. During big election seasons, political groups know enough about individual populations (or think they do) to spend lots of money on TV ads in some areas and a good deal less in others for a long time. And who squawks?

My views of sharing personal information with others was probably shaped as a young librarian who provided readers' advisory service to my students. In helping students chose their next books to read, my first question was "What have you read recently that you enjoyed?" And if they divulged that "personal information" I could do a better job of recommending their next book. Now Amazon performs that function for me based on my prior book purchases and it would probably do an even better job if I actually rated those books after reading them.

As Scott Adams once wrote (and Sonny Brunch reinforces), data sharing is not by default a bad thing. Adams wrote:

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.

Good outcomes are usually the result of good inputs.

Concerns over data privacy are flooding schools right now. Who has student data, how it is being used, and can you track who has accessed it is a big deal right now. My crystal ball tells me that we will be spending lots of scarce technology dollars on systems that track these sorts of concerns - all to little purpose.

There are also rumblings of privacy advocates for making the use of online systems "opt in" or  "opt out." Hmmm, so if I don't want our family's "personal" data (phone numbers, addresses, etc) in the student information system, I can just say no? If I don't trust the teacher to protect the last score my kid got that social studies quiz, I can have the teacher just use a good old paper gradebook instead of the learning management system? And don't we all know those evil doers at SeeSaw are simply mining our kids info to sell to ... well, I'm not sure, but I bet they do.

Schools do store, access and use student information. And I believe we do it responsibly. The ability for a parent to "opt out" of electronic data storage makes about as much sense as me being able to "opt out" of the department of motor vehicles keeping info on my car registration in their database or asking my health care provider to keep all my test results in paper files.

So here's the thing. Let's stop looking at data use and data sharing as innately evil and instead:

• Ask if there are positives in sharing information with others (no Trump campaign ads in my Facebook feed).
• Understand how to control in social media what data is shared and with whom.
• Adopt reasonable safeguards in schools to protect unauthorized use of student and family information (with the operative word being reasonable.
• Teach everyone that there are some really stupid that people do that can lead to identity theft. 
• Make sure people know that if one wishes to commit an illegal or immoral act using social media, the chances of getting caught are pretty damn good. As they should be.

In an earlier post on data privacy, I asked:

Assuming the majority is correct - and privacy is a good thing - you probably have examples from your own law-abiding life in which shared data created a lasting problem for you. Can you tell me a few stories like that?

Well?

*OK, I didn't know what a mouse jiggler was either.