Are your Fitness Trackers Spying on You???
Are your Fitness Trackers Spying on You??? Guest Post by Sheryl Lim Quantifying and tracking our physical activity, lifestyle, and habits is increasingly conveniently today. Gary Wolf termed this rise in self-tracking the “quantified self” movement [1], where people turn towards numbers to measure and interpret their lives. As wearable fitness trackers such as Fitbits […]
(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: 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 Post: Chubby Cheeks, Tiny Hands, and Digital Footprints
Chubby Cheeks, Tiny Hands, and Digital Footprints By Kira Vandermeulen We’ve all seen those sweet posts featuring snaps of our friend’s baby with chubby cheeks and little hands. Today, social media is filled with children. This only makes sense: what with kids being so cute, why wouldn’t you Instagram it? However, as it becomes easier […]
Guest Post: A Clear Cookie Jar: Discussing the Increased Autonomy of Our Digital Privacy
A Clear Cookie Jar: Discussing the Increased Autonomy of Our Digital Privacy by Olivia Done We all have privacy agreement fatigue, often accepting all cookies on browsers and skipping new privacy agreement emails. [1] However, recent changes to EU and Canadian digital privacy laws provide us with more user autonomy over data mining [2], terminology […]
Bill C-10: An Urgent Update or a Free Speech Fail?
If you’ve been keeping up with Canadian digital privacy laws (or even if you haven’t), you might have seen posts online about Bill C-10. You know, the angry posts by concerned Canadians about their online freedom of expression? Yep, those are the ones. While Bill C-10 may have originally been born with the good intention […]
Guest Post: Understanding Internet Regulation in Canada
Understanding Internet Regulation in Canada by Alexander Howes There have been several recent movements in Canada surrounding internet regulation. As nations around the world continue to develop policies that protect their citizens, it is important to be aware of what and who is being protected. In Canada, legislation is currently in the process of being […]
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 […]
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