10 things you can do to protect your Data Privacy

10 things you can do to protect your Data Privacy 

January 28th is Data Privacy Day, an international effort to empower individuals and business to respect privacy, safeguard data and enable trust. So here are some things you can do to protect yourself and your data. 

10.  Sign up for Duo.

        -Dual authentication helps protect your information by requiring two ways to authenticate users. In collaboration with ITS, there will be a table at the library today to help you get enrolled. 

9. Share with care.

     - It's ok to limit what you post online. Posting pictures may inadvertently share data and sensitive details with strangers. 

8. Stay updated.

     - Turn on automatic software updates. These updates help protect potential vulnerabilities in your software. 

7. Choose a strong password.

     -Dictionary attacks are one of the more common attacks to gain access. Using a password that isn't a dictionary word can help protect against these kind of attacks. 

6. Update your privacy settings.

     - Many apps track more information than you know. Update your devices privacy settings, so you don't inadvertently share more data than you are comfortable with. 

5. Invest in a strong antivirus.  

    -Tarleton faculty, staff, and students can purchase Cylance at a discount. This antivirus utilizes machine learning to disable malware, viruses, and bots while protecting your personal devices. 

4.  Careful with public WiFi. 

      -Public WiFi may be convenient, but your personal information, but your personal information may be more exposed on public networks. 

3. Back it up. 

     - If its important, make a back up copy of important documents and work files. Just in case your device is compromised, you'll be glad you have an additional backup copy safe somewhere. 

2. Scan it.

    - Use your security software to scan external devices for malware. 

1. Report it!

    - If you receive a suspicious email, or are just not sure about something, report it to the Tarleton Help Desk. Better safe than sorry. 

These tips and more can be found online from StaySafeOnline, powered by the National Cyber Security Alliance 

Americans and privacy

The Pew Research Center recently published a research study on American's attitudes towards privacy, security, and surveillance. Some of their findings include the following information:

                                          flickr photo by Sean MacEntee http://flickr.com/photos/smemon/4592915995
                                          shared under a Creative Commons (BY) license

• "93% of adults say that being in control of who can get information about them is important; 74% feel this is 'very important,' while 19% say it is 'somewhat important.'
• 90% say that controlling what information is collected about them is important—65% think it is 'very important” and 25% say it is 'somewhat important.' "

Books on privacy in our collection
To find out more about privacy, security, and surveillance, you may want to search our catalog. Using "privacy" as a subject brings up many results.  You may also want to try "security" or "surveillance." If you are off-campus,  narrow your search by restricting it to e-books so that you can start reading right away.  Log in with your NTNET username and password to receive access.

E-books
Some of our e-book titles on privacy include Facebook nation: total information awareness (2014) by Newton Lee and Privacy vs. security (2014) by Sophie Stalla-Bourdillon.


 
   Image retrieved from Amazon.com          Image retrieved from Amazon.com

Print books
Two of our print books on privacy (located upstairs, in the General Stacks) are Data and Goliath : the hidden battles to collect your data and control your world (2015) by Bruce Schneier and Dragnet nation : a quest for privacy, security, and freedom in a world of relentless surveillance (2014) by Julia Angwin.

Google Changes Its Privacy Today

In case you somehow missed it, Google has changed its privacy policy today. in place of the 60 separate policies they did have there is now one policy. In the past information Google collected was partitioned off so information from You Tube was not mingled with Gmail or Google search results. Now all that information will be linked together. Google says this is not bad because if you are doing Google searches for recipes now it will give you You Tube videos about cooking, where in the past Google was unable to do this. But what if your searches could reveal your location, health concerns, sexual orientation, or religion. you might not want all this being linked together.

There is a way to change your search settings so that past searches are deleted and search history is turned off. Google will still collect the data, but it will be for internal use only and after 18 months be partially anonymized. Law enforcement agencies will still have access to the data. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has provided a guide to remove your Google search history at: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/02/how-remove-your-google-search-history-googles-new-privacy-policy-takes-effect

Of course if you are not logged in to any Google services while searching, then none of the results wouls be directly linked to your accounts.

Privacy: Opt In or Out - A Choice

The Dec. 19, 2011 Slate article "Saving Face: How Google, Facebook, and other tech companies hide behind “opt-in” policies" by Evgeny Morozov raises some interesting points about social media and privacy. Reminded me that I need to check the settings on my accounts; how about you?

More on Facebook privacy

Following up on the Facebook privacy tips post a couple days ago, here's a link to The Always Up-to-Date Guide to Managing Your Facebook Privacy, a post on the Lifehacker website that they promise to keep current with changes to Facebook privacy practices, which are usually unannounced. Bookmark it!

Government surveillance in the U.S.

The American Civil Liberties Union recently published a report on a study of government surveillance in the U.S.

The report is called "Policing Free Speech: Police Obstruction and Surveillance of First-Amendment Protected Activity."

An ACLU interactive map with a state-by-state compilation of government and police activity can be found here.

Choose Privacy Week, May 2-8 2010

May 2-8 is the first ever Choose Privacy Week, sponsored by the American Library Association. ALA describes Choose Privacy Week as a "new initiative...about privacy rights in a digital age", where libraries can "give citizens the resources to think critically and make more informed choices about their privacy." ₁

Although online services such as Google and Facebook are undeniably convenient, they come with privacy concerns. For example, ALA states that "online searches create traceable records that make [users] vulnerable to questioning by the FBI, or that government agencies can track their phone calls, airline travel, online purchases, and more."₂

Facebook, for example, has been under fire recently for its privacy changes (Mark Zuckerberg, the founder, stated in January that "privacy is no longer a social norm."₃) In December of 2009, Facebook default settings were changed to public. In April 2010, Facebook made information "such as a user's hometown, education, work, activities, likes and interests public, whereas previously such information could be hidden."₄ And on May 5, Facebook suffered a major privacy glitch when private chats between members could be viewed publicly.

---

₁The American Library Association. "Choose Privacy Week." http://www.privacyrevolution.org/. Accessed May 6, 2010.

₂Ibid.

₃ Johnson, Bobby. The Guardian. "Privacy no longer a social norm, says Facebook founder." January 11, 1010. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jan/11/facebook-privacy. Accessed May 6, 2010.

₄Brodkin, Jon. Networked World. "Consumer groups hammer Facebook privacy violations in federal complaint." http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/050610-facebook-privacy-violations.html. May 6, 2010. Accessed May 6, 2010.

Facebook & Privacy: Are You Exposed?

• Do you have a Facebook account?
• Did you choose the default privacy settings instead of setting your own?
• Are you wondering what others can learn about you?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, take a few minutes to read the article 3 Facebook Settings Every User Should Check Now by Sarah Perez at ReadWriteWeb.

Perez's article discusses Facebook's December privacy policy changes, explains ways the changes may increase exposure of private information, and gives tips for checking and setting your Facebook privacy settings to control:

• who can see the things you share (status updates, photos, videos, etc.),
• who can see your personal information, and
• what Google can see (i.e. keeping your data off the search engines).

The article also links to additional articles discussing Facebook's recent changes and privacy concerns.

Top Ten Tuesday – 10 Tips to Safeguard Your Facebook Privacy

With all the rainy weather and the addition of 30 more computers in the library, I have been seeing a LOT of folks on Facebook. I found this really great post about Facebook security and thought I would share. Please read the entire post for 'Great tips and How to' (it even includes pictures!).

Facebooks facts:

• 300 million active users
  
• Each user has an average of 130 friends
  
• 2 billion+ photos uploaded each month
  
• 70% of users try applications (games, quizzes, etc.)
  

Here is a quick 10 list of things you can (and cannot) do to safeguard your Facebook privacy. (Facebook Security shows step by step how to do each item)

1. Organize Friends in Lists
   
2. Customize Profile Privacy
   
3. Set Facebook Privacy Level of Photo Albums
   
4. Restrict Search Visibility
   
5. Control Automatic Wall Posts and News Feed Updates
   
6. Set Facebook Wall Privacy
   
7. Avoid Appearing in Advertisements
   
8. Protect Yourself from Friends' Applications
   
9. Privacy from Your Applications
   
10. Quitting Facebook? Delete, Don't Just De-Activate Your Account
    

I hope this list makes you think and gets you to read the article. It will give you a better understanding and insight into Facebook's privacy.

If you have ideas for future topics, questions or concerns please tell us in the comments!

Facebook Quizzes

Quizzes abound on Facebook. Here are a few samples:

Which Harry Potter character are you?
Which Transformer are you?
How evil are you?
Who were you in a past life?
What is your biggest fear?
What kind of Mom are you?
What famous movie star are you?

When a user clicks on an icon to take a quiz, he or she will usually get a screen like the one below:

The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, is concerned that quizzes and other Facebook applications may be accessing a whole lot more than users realize.

For example, a user can reject a quiz but if his/her friend takes it, the quiz can still access almost all of the first user's information, unless it is specifically restricted by privacy settings.₁ They are also concerned by the fact that Facebook developers (the ones who create the quizzes) are not screened "for trustworthiness" or required to "comply with a privacy policy."₂

The ACLU of Northern California has created their own Facebook privacy quiz to test users knowledge of Facebook privacy policies and created an online petition for better privacy on the social networking site.

Recently Facebook agreed to increase user privacy in response to complaints from the ACLU and the Canadian Privacy Commission.₃

For more information, visit their Facebook page , take the quiz, or read one of the following related articles:

Harris, Scott Duke. "Facebook knows too much, ACLU says in warning of quizzes." San Jose Mercury News. August 26, 2009.

Hefflinger, Mark. "Facebook Increases Privacy Protections on Quiz Applications." digitalmediawire. August 27, 2009.

₁ Perez, Sarah. "What Facebook Quizzes Know about You." ReadWriteWeb.com
August 27, 2009.
₂ Ibid.
₃Hefflinger, Mark. "Facebook Increases Privacy Protections on Quiz Applications." digitalmediawire.com. August 27, 2009.

You Signed Up -- Now How Do You Opt Out?

"Deleting accounts you've created on Facebook, MySpace, AOL, and elsewhere on the Web isn't always easy." To help people manage their online accounts, Eric Griffith at PC Magazine offers the article "How to Delete Accounts from Any Website," which gives step-by-step instructions, phone numbers, fax numbers, links, consequences and tips for how to opt-out of these sites:

• Amazon.com
• AOL/AIM
• Apple’s MobileMe
• Audible.com
• Blockbuster Online
• Blogger
• Classmates.com
• eBay
• Facebook
• Flickr
• Friendster
• Google
• iTunes
• LinkedIn
• MyLife.com (formerly Reunion.com)
• MySpace
• Netflix
• PayPal
• Photobucket
• Twitter
• Windows Live ID
• Yahoo
• YouTube

Facebook & Privacy: Using One & Protecting the Other

We've all read or heard stories about the many ways Facebook postings have created social, professional, and economic havoc for people. Usually this causes us to wonder how we can avoid the same consequences.

One source of help is Tarleton's Career Services, which offers "Cleaning Up Your Digital Dirt" presentations. You can get more information by visiting Career Services (TSC 218) or calling their office (254-968-9078).

Another source of information is Nick O'Neill's 2-2-09 article "10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know" on AllFacebook (The Unofficial Facebook Resource). In this article, O’Neill offers a how-to guide for protecting your privacy on Facebook by controlling access to information.

A third source is the "Social Networks & Privacy" post on LOL, which offers links to articles about Facebook, employers, and employment.

Tips for avoiding tricksters

In "5 'DISPOSABLE' Web Accounts to Keep Your Identity Safe", Aibek of makeuseof.com explains several "throwaway" web tools that can help you deal with spam, eliminate telemarketing calls, and protect yourself against identity theft:

• Disposable email accounts
• Disposable phone numbers
• Disposable login details
• Disposable name and address generators
• Disposable file sharing

Social Networks & Privacy

Much has been said and written about social networking (Facebook, blogs, MySpace, etc.) regarding privacy concerns (personal safety, identity theft, etc.). Lately, these conversations have focused on another topic -- the effects that online activities can have on employment (current and future).

Several campus venues have been used to inform the Tarleton community about these effects. For example, Career Services in the Division of Student Life has offered workshops, seminars, and presentations about "cleaning up digital dirt."

The articles listed below provide more information about this timely topic. Take a look.

• How Blogging and Social Networking Can Impact Your Job Search


• Employers Are Viewing Your Profile on Social Networking Sites
  
• Employers Using Facebook for Background Checking: Is It Legal?
  
• How to Use Facebook Without Losing Your Job Over It

What do you think? Call Mom & Dad?

Many colleges and universities are reluctant to reach out to parents when there are signs of trouble, such as a missing or potentially suicidal student. Citing a federal law meant to protect student privacy, many schools rope off young people's records from parents and authorities. But in one area, administrators are increasingly exploiting an exception in the law that allows them to reach out: drinking and drugs. A growing number of colleges, such as Texas Tech and Ohio University, are deciding to call mom and dad about underage drinking and illegal drug use, often at the very first signs of trouble.

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119690910535115405-Cv0wTZ_BMaCF7joUpFDoQDBSn9A_20081205.html?mod=rss_free

(Taken from the Kept-up Librarian)

What do you think? Should college administrator's have the right to contact your Mom & Dad?

Privacy online

A Privacy Paradox: Social Networking in the United States by Susan B. Barnes in First Monday -- "Teenagers will freely give up personal information to join social networks on the Internet. Afterwards, they are surprised when their parents read their journals. Communities are outraged by the personal information posted by young people online and colleges keep track of student activities on and off campus."

The linked article discusses privacy issues in social networks and examines solutions to these issues. What do you think? Is privacy a outdated concept? Should it be?