Although there are many interpretations of “Privacy”, I have always believed that privacy on the internet meant that information was secure and could only be viewed by people who the owner trusted. Additionally, I have always assumed that information that is shared or posted by students would be private information. Private between them and people who they choose to share it with. I’m beginning to understand that my assumption was wrong. danah boyd points out that “there's always the possibility of eavesdroppers, of people listening in who we don't actually account for” (2010). Posting students work and pictures of students on a class wiki or blog, has the potential to be viewed, downloaded or shared by almost anyone who is online.
Within my school district, I have always been told by school administration not to post any content that is specifically about a student or group of students. In recent years, I have created a password protected wiki and blog where students can chat, upload photographs or post their work. After reading through the K-12 Primer for British Columbia Teachers Posting Students’ Work Online, I discover that I, like many educators, are not fully complying with B.C. privacy protection laws. Even though I have asked parents to sign a media waiver/internet consent form, I have not informed the parents about the potential risks, developed a safety protection plan or created a plan for dealing with an incident should one occur (Hengstler, 2013).
Social media over the past decade has grown in popularity and is being used by educators across the globe to engage students in their learning. It is great way for students to communicate, learn, create, share and remix information. In her keynote speech at the SXSW conference, Danah Boyd points out that “we are all collectively creating culture through our engagement with social media” (2010). But, with the growth of social media, individual privacy is being compromised. According to Julia Hengstler, when information is being stored on a cloud, the information being stored is vulnerable as it is being stored somewhere beyond ones direct control (2013b). Because individuals do not have direct control over the information being posted, the information is vulnerable. As educators, we must teach our students how to protect their privacy. In order to ensure privacy and gain control over personal information, Ann Cavoukian recommends practicing 7 principles:
1. Proactive not Reactive; Preventative not Remedial
2. Privacy as the Default Setting
3. Privacy Embedded into Design
4. Full Functionality — Positive-Sum, not Zero-Sum
5. End-to-End Security — Full Lifecycle Protection
6. Visibility and Transparency — Keep it Open
7. Respect for User Privacy — Keep it User-Centric (2011).
On a personal level, I need to take a step back and rethink what privacy means for me and the people I’m directly and indirectly communicating with and sharing information with on social media. Equally as important, I need to inform my peers, students, parents and colleagues about effective ways to engage in social media while protecting and respecting individual privacy.
Boyd, D. (2010) "Making Sense of Privacy and Publicity". Speech transcript from SXSW, Austin, Texas, March 13, 2010. http://www.danah.org/papers/talks/2010/SXSW2010.html
Cavoukian, A. (2011). 7 principles of privacy by design. Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario www.ipc.on.ca/images/resources/7foundationalprinciples.pdf
Hengstler, J. (2013b). A K-12 primer for British Columbia teachers posting students' work online. Primer on Posting Minor Students Final.pdf
Hengstler, J. (2013). "OLTD 506 (2013) backgrounder: Cloud computing, social media, privacy, & consent for educational use. oltd506_backgrounder.pdf