Tag Archives: Security & Privacy

Internet Security & Privacy Issues

Is This Forever?

Posted on by

One of the videos I showed last night during my Media Literacy presentation was the recent “David After Dentist” video. The scene is of a seven year old boy who just left the Dentist’s office and was still feeling the effects of sedation. I’ve posted the video to Twitter, and while most people report it to be quite funny, others were more critical of this scene being posted to Youtube for all to see. The original video (posted below) was posted January 30, 2009, and has already been viewed over 7 million times.

Boing Boing, a highly influential group blog, posted the video on September 3. At that time, there had already been a few remixes. Since the Boing Boing mention, the number of remixes has exploded. Two of my favourite are found below:

Remix:

Chad (Vader) After Dentist

There are dozens more!

How does this relate to media literacy? During his state of sedation, the boy asks “is this forever?” While the dad reassures him that it isn’t, in the (digital) media sense, it is forever. Whether the boy likes it or not, he is now an Internet star. The scene will likely follow him into classrooms, into careers, into relationships; it will forever be part of his identity. Whether he accepts his fame as mostly positive (see Gary Brolsma) or especially negative (see Ghyslain Raza) is yet to be seen. What is certain is that the distribution of this video, a piece of David’s identity, is no longer in anyone’s full control.

Yammer: Organizational Microblogging

Posted on by

I ran across Yammer tonight. From the demo video found on the home page, Yammer looks much like Twitter but your potential network is defined by your organization’s domain (like Google Sites). I see later that Yammer is billed as “Twitter for Enterprise“.

So I signed up using my uregina.ca domain. Looks like I’m the first and only one there. One is a lonely number when you are dealing with social networks. :-(

Yammer

I really like the concept of Yammer, and am already thinking about how I could use it as a communications tool in my next class, or actually use it with my colleagues. Wow, that could be really useful!

Check it out.

Sue Waters on Al Upton/Mini Legends Closure

Posted on by

We were very fortunate to have Sue Waters as a guest for EC&I 831 last Wednesday (March 19/08). Sue had previously written a post related to the order for closure for Al Upton’s MiniLegends classroom blog. EC&I 831 was very interested in hearing more.

We used Skype to mediate the conversation, and the result was streamed via Ustream. I noticed over 30 participants at one point, and it is clear from many related blog posts that the issue has generated much interest over several continents.

Sue did an amazing job recording the details and summarizing this conversation, including many of the the major points brought up by course participants and other Ustream guests. Check out her post here.

Also, the mp3 version of the conversation is available here. There may be a couple of anomalies with the audio due to the way it had to be lifted from Ustream. Sorry, it was mostly unavoidable.

I would also like to take this opportunity to comment on a few ‘aha’ moments I had regarding this experience, not directly related to the issues discussed, but related to the networked affordances made available through this course. This a short list of things I really like about this particular experience in terms of pedagogy.

1) The idea of the session came from Cindy, one of the course participants. After it was suggested, there were several other classmates that were excited about the idea. It is great to have students bring direction to the course, and I wish I had made this more of a common thread throughout.

2) Through Twitter and the edublogosphere, I was able to quickly contact Sue. Sue and I had already been connected through various tools, but had never had the chance to collaborate. This goes to show the importance of the network, and highlights yet another example of the generosity apparent in so many people I have connected to. This is not only apparent in Sue’s participation on the conversation, but additionally in her thorough, voluntary summary of the session.

3) This issue, although global, has great relevance to the course content and to the practice of many of the participants in their roles as teachers and administrators.

4) The issue was timely. We were able to have this conversation within a week of its occurrence.

5) The conversation was global. The Ustream conversation included participants from 4 countries, and 3 continents.

These previous points are attributes shared with many online educational experiences. Al Upton’s Mini Legends initiative demonstrated some of these and other valuable characteristics. Thus, I believe it is important for all of us to share the positive attributes of online interactions and collaborations that cannot be duplicated using more traditional approaches to teaching and learning. The contrast of great advantages over limited risks is likely the best justification we have for emerging, digital pedagogies.

EC&I 831 Conversation with Sue Waters Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Possible Suspension for Student Who Created Proxy Site

Posted on by

This is an interesting story that brings up important questions around school jurisdiction on student activities and on the rights and responsibilities of students. This American student writes that he is facing possible suspension from his school for creating a web proxy service (as part of his job/business) that was used by other students at his school to get around school network restrictions. He is allegedly accused of “violating (his) rights as a student, and intentionally attempting to disturb the learning environment of students in (his) school.”

Worst part is that now I’m tagged as being a ‘computer hacker’ and a ‘potential threat’ to the school system. A mass email was sent out from the administrator who accused me of this to all the teachers, administrators, librarians, etc in the entire school, which basically says I’m a criminal and I need to be watched when getting within a 10-foot radius of a computer.

I find it unfair that Fairfax County Public Schools feels they can impose this kind of totalitarianism on me, I’m now a criminal for making proxies. For making a website. A legal website. On my private server. Outside of school. Great.

Read the article to get a better sense of this situation. Thoughts?

Growing Up Online – On Frontline (PBS)

Posted on by

Growing Up Online, a Frontline special, will be broadcast tomorrow, January 22, 2008, on PBS.

MySpace. YouTube. Facebook. Nearly every teen in America is on the Internet every day, socializing with friends and strangers alike, “trying on” identities, and building a virtual profile of themselves–one that many kids insist is a more honest depiction of who they really are than the person they portray at home or in school.

In “Growing Up Online,” FRONTLINE peers inside the world of this cyber-savvy generation through the eyes of teens and their parents, who often find themselves on opposite sides of a new digital divide. From cyber bullying to instant “Internet fame,” to the specter of online sexual predators, FRONTLINE producer Rachel Dretzin investigates the risks, realities and misconceptions of teenage self-expression on the World Wide Web.

It looks interesting, although I’m assuming a high degree of sensationalism. Even so, it should be worth watching.

More information.

Digital Footprint: Where Do You Fit In?

Posted on by

The PEW/Internet report Digital Footprints: Online identity management and search in the age of transparency was recently released. In the summary of findings, they divide online adults into four distinct categories based on their online privacy (footprint) concerns.

1) Confident Creatives are the smallest of the four groups, comprising 17% of online adults. They say they do not worry about the availability of their online data, and actively upload content, but still take steps to limit their personal information.

2) The Concerned and Careful fret about the personal information available about them online and take steps to proactively limit their own online data. One in five online adults (21%) fall into this category.

3) Despite being anxious about how much information is available about them, members of the Worried by the Wayside group do not actively limit their online information. This group contains 18% of online adults.

4) The Unfazed and Inactive group is the largest of the four groups—43% of online adults fall into this category. They neither worry about their personal information nor take steps to limit the amount of information that can be found out about them online.

So, where do you fit in?

Don’t Steal This Professor’s Laptop

Posted on by

There’s an interesting story moving around the blogosphere (is there a better word for this yet?) regarding a Berkeley professor who had his laptop computer stolen (via Boing Boing). Evidently, the laptop was loaded with tracking technology, and full of highly secret government and corporate information. However, it seems the thief was probably only after a digital copy of a course examination.

In the following video (BitTorrent Download), the professor describes the ominous and terrifying consequences of this incident for the thief. Wow … I’m sure glad I didn’t do it!

This also goes to show both the sensitivity of information that can be stored on portable devices as well as the security measures that are often in place to protect this data.

And by the way, if you have not yet discovered Bit Torrent, feel free to ask me what this means, and how you can use it. It’s currently one of the best ways to share files to many users.

“if i were an iPod …”

Posted on by

Ian Kerr, Canada Research Chair in Ethics, Law & Technology, presented “if i were an iPod: privacy, autonomy and Internet for Dummies” at the University of Regina on April 5, 2005. The presentation was sponsored by the Sheldon Chumir Foundation. The following are some of the highlights of this presentation.

Background:

Note for my next presentation: As the participants of the session gathered, Dr. Kerr plugged in his iPod to the room’s sound system, and a little bit of Our Lady Peace set the mood. A nice touch.

Dr. Kerr is also involved in a large SSHRC sponsored project titled “On The Identity Trail: Understanding the Importance and Impact of Anonymity and Authentication in a Networked Society.”

There were other panelists participating in this presentation, but for simplicity’s sake, I will focus on the message from Dr. Kerr. I apologize to the other respected panelists.

Presentation:

Intro – We live in an era of terror, weapons of mass destruction. How are we going to combat this fear? Counter intelligence? Dr. Kerr refers to an MIT project referring to smart (kitchen) counter intelligence. “Thinking systems … that lead people through a cooking experience.” Some of the potential of this is that the devices can look for activities (even kitchen activities) that could lead to dangerous outcomes. Smart devices could make our lives safer.

The previous was a lead-up to what are known as “smart technologies.” The idea of “Smart technologies” rose as books like the “Internet for Dummies” entered the market. Interesting overlay. As technologies get “smarter”, humans seem to lag behind.

Today, we are experiencing a “netvolution” … we are moving from a network of ideas, to a network of devices.

Continue reading →