Privacy is an extremely important factor to consider when using the web, yet, it tends to be highly disregarded. Surfing the web with no true knowledge of what the searches mean and what happens to the data that is taken from tends to be a bad habit. Lindsey C. Kim, in “Understanding and Maintaining Your Privacy When Writing with Digital Technologies“, highlights the importance of online safety and privacy can impact the information that one runs into while surfing the internet.
I find myself to be one of those people who just agree to any terms and conditions that pop up and I accept any “cookies” that I encounter when browsing the internet. Why do I do this? To put it simply- I’m lazy. I don’t want to read the terms and conditions or understand and remember what cookies actually are. It’s a habit of mine to just want to go online, search things up, and scroll. I didn’t realize how damaging this actually was and how it impacted my online privacy and safety. There was a lack of realization regarding how strong the influence was on everything that I encountered online. I recognized the bias in my social media feeds but I didn’t realize how strong the filtering was. I rarely see anyone that has views that oppose mine, even if I follow them.
Reading Kim’s work made me realize that I need to take my web privacy more seriously to better protect myself. I’m definitely going to use ToSDR.org, in order to check the Terms of Service on websites where I sign up for something. I’m also most likely going to start using Mozilla as well considering it seems significantly safer and more secure. I don’t know why I’ve gone this long without caring about my online privacy, but that’s going to change.
In an article titled “The Battle for Digital Privacy Is Reshaping the Internet”, online privacy is discussed. Brian X. Chen discusses the rising importance of privacy for web users. Companies such as Google and Apple are looking to minimize the use of users personal data to promote varying ads. I don’t think there will be an immediate change but this is a step towards protecting the privacy of millions.
Reading Martha Fay Burtis’ presentation, “Messy & Chaotic Learning“, took time but I found it to be very informative. Burtis spends a lot of time discussing the LMS and how impactful it has been. She also discusses the importance of giving students creative freedom and liberty. I found the second part of her presentation to be more intriguing than the rest. I especially enjoyed reading about the creation of domain of One’s Own and how it was curated.
Burtis discussed and did something, at her University, that most professors don’t do. she gave students the freedom to create their own piece of the internet. Students at the University of Mary Washington were able to host their own website and have control over their domain. Burtis, alongside her colleagues, gave students creative liberty and freedom– something that a lot of teachers have a hard time doing.
This is my fourth year attending University and many professors don’t trust their students with the internet and they limit any freedom they have online. I was initially a business major and it felt like the internet was a massive no-no in every course. It was all about physical elements and how bad the internet was even though it would become a big part of everyone’s career in the future. It just felt counterproductive to me. How could professors have no trust in their students and ban/limit the use of the web, when it was such an important element for these majors? I hope that professors will take notes from Burtis in order to truly guide and help their students.
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