(Privacy) Check, Please!: The Privacy Implications of QR Code Menus
(Privacy) Check, Please! The Privacy Implications of QR Code Menus There are many habits we now consider the “new normal”. Masks, sanitizer, and awkward Zoom hangouts are just some of the facets of daily life we no longer think twice about. As restaurants open and we can meet outside our screens again, one of the […]
Guest Post: The Revolution Will Not Be Streamed: Digital Activism in the Era of Mass Surveillance
The Revolution Will Not Be Streamed: Digital Activism in the Era of Mass Surveillance by Leila Matte-Kaci On December 4th, 2020, the State Council of France expanded three decrees to widen the scope of police surveillance. [1, 11, 28] French police will now be able to track citizens or groups whose activities indicate that they […]
Guest Post: Targeted Advertising and Ad Blocking Technologies
Targeted Advertising and Ad Blocking Technologies by Laura Moberg Have you ever wondered if your phone was listening to you? In an episode from their podcast Reply All, Alex Goldman and PJ Vogt investigate the belief many people have that Facebook is listening to us through our devices and using that information to create targeted […]
Guest Post & Quiz: Data Breach: Don’t Let it Get You!
Data Breach: Don’t Let it Get You! by Amruta Phansalker Check out the end of this post for a fun quiz to see if you can spot potential data breaches! We hear of data breach incidents often. But what are they exactly, and why should we worry about them? Did you know that your data […]
Guest Post: Algorithms and the Death of Democratic Discourse
Algorithms & The Death of Democratic Discourse by Christian Koch Our entire digital history tracked— and is still being tracked. Platforms like Google, Facebook, and others collect data from links clicked, time spent on a particular page, whether or not the content is shared, and even the most seemingly inconsequential choices— all to build pictures […]
Guest Video: Privacy vs. Anonymity
Privacy vs. Anonymity by Misha Khawaja and Ali Albastaki Do you know the difference between online privacy and anonymity? This excellent video by Misha Khawaja and Ali Albastaki from the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information, and Technology, University of Toronto, Mississauga does a great job of explaining the difference! Which is more important to you […]
Guest Post: What’s in My “Stream”?: Critical Knowledge for the Spotify User
What’s in My “Stream”?: Critical Knowledge for the Spotify User by Sam Davidson With 286 million users, Spotify is the world’s most popular music streaming platform, and there’s a good chance that you use it for your music listening needs [1]. What we don’t often consider when we’re putting in our earbuds is that Spotify […]
Guest Post: Personalized Personal Lives: Students vs. Filter Bubbles
Personalized Personal Lives: Students vs. Filter Bubbles by Joe Wright We’ve all likely seen and been told about how Google’s now seamless integration into our lives sometimes results in a blurring of our lines of privacy, but another hidden tactic of Google (and many other platforms) is ‘personalizing’ the information we’re shown to appeal to […]
Book Review: Invisible Women
Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men Caroline Criado Perez (2019) Digital Tattoo Rating: 5/5 1 2 3 4 5 Leave it on the shelf Give it a skim An informative read Would give to a friend A must read!!! Very few books horrify me. There was a horror […]
How to Protect Your Digital Identity Based on Your Zodiac Sign
We all can do more to protect ourselves online, but sometimes it can be difficult to know where to start. To help you out, we’ve come up with simple steps each Zodiac sign can take to increase their online safety. Let us know if your sign’s advice speaks to you, and let us know how […]
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