October 6: Who’s Watching Me Now? (Data Privacy)

This module addresses five key topics relating to data privacy:

Decision points during the module

9:15 a.m. Issue: Data mining – online quizzes and apps.

- Jo sees a quiz in the feed on his social network page.
- Decision: How can Jo do the quiz without giving up his privacy?

Data mining answer key

Give fake answers to the questions. POOR ANSWER: (0/2 points)

Change his privacy settings to limit what data apps are allowed to collect from his account. BEST ANSWER: (2/2 points)

Create a new account and use that to take the quiz. PASSABLE ANSWER: (1/2 points)

11:14 a.m. Issue: Closing online accounts

- Jo wants to close an account he created on a kid’s website when he was younger because they have some of his personal information.
- Decision: How can Jo permanently close his account without making it a huge hassle?

Closing online accounts

Write to the company to get them to close the account. PASSABLE ANSWER: (1/2 points)

Go into Account Settings to close the account. POOR ANSWER: (0/2 points)

Check the Terms of Service to find out how to close his account. BEST ANSWER: (2/2 points)

4:15 p.m. Issue: Geolocation tracking

- Josie gets a text from a coffee shop while walking nearby and she is upset that they know where she is.
- Decision: How can Josie keep stores from knowing she’s nearby and bugging her with ads?

Geolocation tracking answer key

Turn off the GPS so they can’t track her that way. BEST ANSWER: (2/2 points)

Uninstall the Red Eye Café app so it can’t track her. PASSABLE ANSWER: (1/2 points)

Turn off the Wi-Fi on her phone so they can’t track her with that. POOR ANSWER: (0/2 points)

5:25 p.m. Issue: Phishing scam

- Jo receives a message that information from his account on a video game site has been lost and that he needs to resend the information.
- Decision: How can Jo recognize and respond to “phishing” messages like these?

Phishing scams answer key

Click on the link and make sure it takes him to the right Web address. POOR ANSWER: (0/2 points)

Go to the Alien Legacy website to make sure this is legit. BEST ANSWER: (2/2 points)

Just delete the email. PASSABLE ANSWER: (1/2 points)

7:20 p.m. Issue: Targeted ads

- Jo sees embarrassing ads on the computer after Josie’s used it.
- Decision: How can Josie keep ads based on her search history from appearing on the computer?

Target ads answer key

Delete her browser history. POOR ANSWER: (0/2 points)

Use a search engine that doesn’t track or gather data. (BEST ANSWER: 2/2 points)

Use her browser’s Private mode. PASSABLE ANSWER: (1/2 points)