personally identifiable information (PII)
information about an individual that identifies, links, relates, or
describes them
what can be used to create knowledge about an individual
- geolocation, cookies, browsing history
most digital technology needs some kind of PII to work
ex: street navigation needs to know your location or PII stored online to simplify making online purchases
once data is made digital, especially once its shared online, its easier or harder to control?
much harder to control
how does our private data power computing innnovations positively
- it makes products that are convenient, interesting, personal, useful, and often “free” because we “pay” with our data
legal and ethical concerns are raised by:
- computing innovations that harm people
- computing innovations that play a role in social and political issues
privacy policies
- they protect companies legally but are often ignored by users due to complex language
- they are required even for small businesses to disclose data usage
privacy policies: “control”
- data settings????/
privacy policies: “not”
- limitations on data usage??
privacy policies: “such as”
- signals vague data practices
what are ways to enhance privacy
- check the last updated date
- use burner emails
what are burner emails?
An email account set up to temporarily receive messages and attachments when people do not want to divulge their primary email address
facial recognition technology
- used in apps, surveillance, security
- nearly half of US adults are in databases
- works by mapping facial landmarks to create “faceprints”
what are concerns and uses of facial recognition technology
- gov use it for security (airports)
- companies track customers emotions and purchasing behaviors
- raises ethical concerns about privacy, surveillance, and data commercialization
supreme court ruling on cell phone data
- limited warrantless access to historical cell phone data
- challenges the third-party doctrine (previously, shared data wasn’t protected under the Fourth Amendment).
- case brought by Timothy Carpenter (linked to robberies using cell data without a warrant).
- tech companies pushed for stronger digital privacy protections.
- impacts digital privacy rights as surveillance increases.
phishing
a technique that attempts to trick a user into providing personal information. that personal information can then be used to access sensitive online resources, such as bank accounts and emails
keylogging
the use of a program to record every keystroke made by a computer user in order to gain fraudulent access to passwords and other confidential information
malware
software intended to damage a computing system or to take partial control over its operation
rogue access point
a wireless access point that gives unauthorized access to secure networks
encryption
a process of encoding messages to keep them secret, so only “authorized” parties can read it
decryption
a process that reverses encryption, taking a secret message and reproducing the original plain text
cipher
the generic term for a technique (or algorithm) that performs encryption
caesar’s cipher
a technique for encryption that shifts the alphabet by some number of characters
cracking encryption
when you attempt to decode a secret message without knowing all the specifics of the cipher, you are trying to crack the encryption
