CIS2: 2. Privacy and Personal Information

• explore the topic of Privacy and Personal Information through textbook reading and related assignments
• facilitate an online discussion about Privacy and Personal Information
• visit DeAnza's Online Writing Center
• explore web resources associated with this topic
• learn about blogging and personal publishing on the web
• consider how society is impacted by the application of computers to Privacy and Personal Information issues

• How do you feel about your own privacy when you are using technology? Are you more or less concerned than transacting in other media?
• How safe is your personal information? Do a Google search for your own name. Are you listed? How is your name used? Are there other people with the same name listed? Are they anything like you?
• What are some of the risks? What are some of the benefits? Do you think these are in balance?
• Do you think "big brother" is watching you? What can you do about it?
• Do you want to be told about special offers on products and services that you have used in the past and are likely to use again? Do you like the idea of target marketing? Why or why not?
• Should we have a National ID system? What difference would it make?
• If more health data was collected, researchers could cure more health problems. Do you agree? Would you allow you health records to be share with researchers if you personal identity were hidden?
• Is there a right to privacy? How far should that extend? What limits are necessary?

• Should distribution of information online and offline be regulated more strictly?
• How do privacy regulations in the United States differ from those in the European Union?
• Do the people who work for these companies that abuse personal information understand that they too are at risk or are they protected to the hilt with anonymizers, encryption and privacy protection software?
• Who am I if someone steals my identity?
• What kind of benefit does the credit bureaus get for selling "header" information from credit files?
• Do you think setting up rules for children under 13 is going to work?
• How can we cope with these kind of computer crimes.
• Is there any way we can check when people steal our information?
• Do we need tracking devices or will they end in our moral rights to have privacy?
• How does this reading relate to your own experiances, views, and ideas you have on the subjects?
• Do you think there really is such a thing as personal information if everyone has access to it?
• What do you do to prevent cyber-attacks?

1. Read the 2. Privacy and Personal Information study notes for an overview for the topics that will be covered in this module.

2. Read text book - Chapter 2: Privacy and Personal Information.
   Study Tip: If taking notes in class helps you learn, try making notes as you read through the text book. Many students find that just doing something active while they read or listen helps them focus and learn the information being presented.

3. If you haven't read the course Syllabus - CIS 2 Computers and Society, do it NOW. There is a lot of important information here.

4. The De Anza Online Writing Assistance Center service is available to all DeAnza students, so you can get assistance with writing for any on-campus or online courses. For instructions to create an account, go to Information About De Anza Online Tutoring. http://faculty.deanza.fhda.edu/alvesdelimadiana/stories/storyReader$331
   Your MidTerm paper is due in module 5. All papers should be reviewed prior to submission by Peer Review by other students in the class, AND by a writing tutor. You will need to have an Online Tutoring account set up. Apply for an account now.

5. Facilitate a discussion in the discusion topic Student Discussion Questions. Write a question based on your reading from the textbook and post it to the discussion. Participate in at least 2 other dicussions. In the discussions, consider these questions. What is the impact on society? Why is this important?
   Write a discussion question for this chapter of the textbook. Read the questions already posted, and do not repeat a question asked by another student. Your question should relate directly to an issue discussed in the text, and should require a thoughtful response. Don't ask a question which can be answered by looking the answer up. Attitude, opinion, and application questions usually get thoughtful responses. Participation in a student led discussion consists of the following 4 steps:
   • Post your original question in Student Discussion Questions. This must be done within the first two days the module is active. This will be your topic - you will be the discussion leader. Your job is to facilitate this discussion and get as much information from the other participants as you can that relates to the question you have asked.
   • Read the questions posted by the other students, and respond to at least two of them. Choose the topics you think will be the most interesting and beneficial to you. You will be a participant in these discussions. Provide another viewpoint or add additional information. Your responses should be 2-3 sentences.
   • Respond to every student who responds to you. Do this in your own topic as well as the other topics you are participating in.
   • Continue participating in the threads until the module is over.
   Note: If other students are not selecting your thread to participate in, perhaps it is because your question is too complex, confusing, or uninteresting. In this case, submit another question.

6. We will be doing several group activities. In preparation, read the Collaboration and Group Projects guide (Resources : Collaboration and Group Projects)

7. For this activity, everyone is assigned to a Group based on the Color of your Brain (from the quiz you took last week or take this quiz - different quiz but results should be similar). http://quizilla.com/users/kstarbuck/quizzes/What%20Color%20is%20Your%20Brain%3F/
   The first group projects are "practice" for group work so you can learn the process. The Collaboration and Group Projects guidelines provide detailed information about the group project process. The information is intended to help groups working on the final projects. Just review it, so you you get an overview. This is way too much information and structure for this "practice" group.
   There is a separate discussion topic for each Brain Color - Blue, Green, Gold, Orange. In your own Color Group discuss these questions - Should group work be included in online classes? How should the groups be formed - assigned by the instructor or selected by the students? Does it help that everyone in the group is the same "Brain Color" or would it be better if there were different types in each group? Compare your VARK scores - does everyone in the group have similar VARK scores? Does learning style affect how you work in a group? Who should be the group leader? Who is going to write the group statement for posting for the whole class to review?
   This is a 2-week assignment to give you plenty of time to work as a group. Your posts this week will all be in your own group. There are 2 sides to these questions. Be sure to discuss both sides to compare and contrast each point of view.
   Next week, your group will write a statement that represents the views of the entire group and post your "representative" statement to the 3. Online Groups - Whole Class discussion. Work with other students and exchange ideas and questions about online group work.
   There should be a "leader" for each discussion. It works best is someone volunteers to facillitate the discussion. Your job is to ask questions, and encourage others to get their work submitted in plenty of time for discussion and formation of a group statement for posting to the Whole Class topic next week.
   Please exchange your ideas in the discussion topic for your group. Do not use email - I need to see the "conversations" as you discuss the questions. Some students have tried using the Catalyst Chat but it is very difficult with more than 3-4 people. Using the discussion forum usually works best to accommodate everyone's schedule. Checking the progress of the discussion and contributing at least once a day really helps! Have fun.

8. The little picture that accompamies my posts in the discussion forum is called an avatar. You can add your own to your profile - any small image file can be uploaded. Enter the image URL. For best result, it should be 100x100 pixels in size. Click on the "?" help button in your profile for additional information.

9. Search the web for sites that talk about privacy and computers. Find one that you think is particularly interesting. Write a brief description of the site and a "critical thinking" question about the social issues discussed. What is the impact on society? Why is this important? Be sure you question will encourage discussion on why this is important. Post the web address of the page you selected and your question to discussion topic Privacy and Personal Information Web Sites. Facilitate your discussion and participate in at least 2 other discussions.
   It is tempting to just copy and paste the description of a site from information on the site. If you do this you must put it in QUOTES. However, what I really want is your personal description of why YOU think this site is important. You are providing the link so others can go to the site and read the information there. Why is it worth their time to check out the site that you are recommending?
   Plagiarism is a serious violation of academic integrity and will not be tolerated. Many students are uncomfortable posting their own words but that is no excuse to copy the words of others and not acknowledging that these are the words of others. This is a UC transferable credit course. I have a responsibility to ensure that students in this course are working at a level comparable to what would be required to pass an equivalent class at a UC. Please don't make my job any more difficult. If you are copying something - say so. The original author has a right to the credit. That is what academic integrity is all about.

10. Blog -- (weB LOG) - A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is "blogging" and someone who keeps a blog is a "blogger." Blogs are typically updated daily using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the blog. Postings on a blog are almost always arranged in cronological order with the most recent additions featured most prominantly. To help you get started, here are some links - Slashdot, Blogarama, and The Bloggies - annual awards for best blogs. You can even create a blog of your own using one of the free blog hosting services like Blogger.
    Search the web and locate one or more "web logs" or "blogs" - writing and links to other sites usually using instant web-publishing online. Find a blog on a topic that interests you. This could be the writing of an expert in a particular field or just someone who writes a personal journal that is good reading. Lists of blogs are available by topic in Blogger or FeedAdvisor or even Google for the keyword "blog" and your topic.
    Blogger - http://search.blogger.com/
    FeedAdvisor - http://www.feedadvisor.com
    Write 3-4 sentences describing the blog that you think would be of interest to the class. Post your answer to discussion Blogs of Interest. Review the posts of your classmates, link to the blogs they suggest and comment on at least two. What does blogging indicate about society today?
    Do you have your own blog? What is your point of view? Why do you blog? How often do you write blog entries? Do you read any blogs regularly? Which ones? Why?

11. Your particpation in class discussions is important. Throughout the quarter, discussion partication will be reviewed and graded. The score will be recorded in the discussion forum. The discussion participation grade will contribute to your final grade for the course.

12. Think you know an email scam when you see one? Take this quiz and see if you can tell the real corporate emails to customers from the phishing scams. I got 7 out of 10 right. I missed 1 scam but I would have ignored two real requests from companies I do business with.
    http://www.dcu.org/streetwise/privacy/privacy_handout_pg3.html

13. Throughout the quarter, watch for news items on the web about computers and society. For extra credit, submit the link to the news item page and a 1-2 sentence note about why you think the news item is applicable to this class to the X. News Item - Extra Credit Assignment. Be sure to include a brief description of why this is important to society. These can be submitted anytime during the quarter.
    Also, post your item to the Discussion X. Extra Credit forum. The X. Extra Credit discussion is a separate topic at the end of the main course topics page. It is always active and all News Items should be posted in this separate topic regardless of the week.
    Extra credit assignments are optional. Extra credit points are intended to reward extra effort researching and reporting topics of interest to you, over and above the regular assignments work. These can be submitted anytime during the quarter.
    Comment on News Items and commments posted by other students.

14. Extra credit - Movie Review - If you see a MOVIE that relates to computers and society, post the web address of the movie or a description of the movie (NetFlix or any of the sites that provides movie descriptions) and 1-2 paragraphs describing why this movie is important. What is the connection to the Computers and Society course? What issues were examined in the movie that impact society? Is this a likely outcome? Should we be worried about it now or in the future?
    In addition to posting your movie review to the Movie Review topic in the Extra Credit discussion forum, paste the post in the X. Movie Review assignment as well. You will receive extra credit points.

15. Work through the exercises in the textbook. These will not be graded, but you should think about how you would respond to these questions and situations.

16. Reflection - What have you learned about Privacy and Personal Information as they apply to Computers and Society from the notes, readings and assignments? Are you more aware of computers around you? Are computers affecting society? This should be one or two paragraphs. Suggest 1-2 questions that you would add to the study notes questions. Submit your reply in the I Think... 2 assignment.