Data Check Up

A woman holds her personal data on a string. How much
of it do companies own?

It’s important to discuss online privacy and data because it’s Google’s main product! Google is able to offer all of its apps and services for free to everyone because it is able to collect data and sell advertisements. This is an ethical trade off we make every single time we search Google. 

Google for Education is a little different because Google vows not to collect or sell data on students in the educational sphere (K-12 and Higher Ed), and it is able to offer these services for free because it does sell its G Suite products and services to companies and organizations (including higher education). 

For this blog post, I would like you to do some of your own exploration into the data Google has about you as well as research and report how Google uses consumer data and search for tips on how to protect your data and become an informed user of Google’s products and services. 

Complete the following tasks and answer the questions as part of your 2nd blog post. 

1. View your Activity and Timeline on your personal Google account. What does Google know about you? Are there any changes you would like to make (Manage your activity controls)? Why or why not?

2. View your ad personalization settings. How accurate were your factors?

3. Why is it important to protect yourself online (what’s the worst that could happen)? 

4. How does Google use your data? How would you like them to use your data?

5. What are you comfortable with companies knowing about you? What don’t you want them to know?

6. What are COPPA and FERPA and what do they mean for educational institutions and their use of technology? 

7. How does Google comply with these privacy laws? Include links to sources (preferably from Google).

8. Do some research online and find articles, videos and other sources that discuss how Google collects and uses its users data. 

9. Find articles, videos and tutorials about recommended settings and strategies for protecting yourself when using Google (and other “free” websites). Select the top 3 most important strategies based on your research, summarize them and provide links or embed videos. 

10. Compare and contrast Google’s data collection and usage practices with another company of your choice (e.g. Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, etc.) - you only need to compare data practices with one additional company besides Google. 

Be sure to include links to resources where you get your information. Proper APA citation is NOT required - a link to the article, video, website, etc. is fine, but you MUST include this information!