Digital Tools carry a baggage called privacy polices!

Digital Tools carry a baggage called Privacy Policies

All digital tools carry baggage we can call privacy policies. As users we must have some idea of these policies, these can help us become more conscious and aware about how we use the tools, what information we share, and how our data could be shared or used with other parties.I have skimmed through general and privacy policies 3 tools that are Duolingo, Zoom and Microsoft. They all save and collect your data but do not share it with third parties without your consent. Let’s begin with exploring Duolingo’s policy. They collect information that you provide at the sign up i.e. your name, email address , age or data or birth. They also collect information of your activities, which means that a service known as full story is used to record all your data (when you use the Duolingo service) and it is stored in the form of a video. The purpose of collecting this data is to make the service better. They collect data about the clicks, scrolling, typing and mouse movements. They also collect data about your session progress, answers, websites visited etc Duolingo may send you notification or updates about the service. They also make some of your data public that is profile but for the new or non users they can’t see anything more. They don’t share your data with anyone without your consent.

Duolingo gives a lot of authority to the users as far their data is concerned. All data would be erased once the account is deactivated. There are strict policies for children users, there is a specific age limit for them, and they ask for a parent account and not the childs. As soon as the account is made, an email is automatically sent to parents. The app compares the child age to the age limit in the country and applies that to children users. With regards to COPPA they collect information for kids below age 13.

The second too that I explored as far the policy is concerned was Zoom. Due to COVID almost all communication, collaboration is online. People prefer to use simple apps that can help them manage and complete work efficiently. Most people are using zoom in their schools, universities, homes etc. Zoom also collects the user’s data but that is content data and not any personal information. It collects data like other tools to provide better services. The information they collect is at the time of registration, they collect info such as your name, email, date of birth, age, language , profile picture etc If you are a paid client then they would collect info about the bank and payments. Zoom also collects service data. Data is also collected using google analytics. This data includes info about the IP address, Internet protocol, files viewed on meeting sites etc.Zoom does not store any data that you share with another party.

Zoom only shares your data to another party with your consent, otherwise it’s not shared. This data can be shared with zoom partners or vendors for providing services.  Users also have a right to stop zoom from processing your data. The customer has the right to erase his/her data, transfer or portable  request for strict processing of data etc.

The third product and policy I looked into was Microsfts. They also collect data about your name, contact details, device data, usage data etc They use this data to improve their products and give recommendations. This is also used for developing more personalized products. They share personal data only with consent. There is an opt out page where you can control use and access of your data, choose whether to receive emails or clear your data using the privacy dashboard. They do not collect any student data nor do they save it nor do they share it with anyone. But you might not be able to access some services till the payment has been made, some features would remain disabled or will not let you access it.

The policies were all quite detailed and lengthy, and needed a  lot of time to read. What was common in all three policies was collecting data to improve product services. The data that was collected and used for analysis was based on the usage of the products, in some cases they looked at the mouse movements, number of clicks, scrolling and typing. Some keep data of your activity safe in the form of a video story to be reviewed later. Second common thing was that none share the content with any other party without consent. They always seek users approval. Third, they collect basic data at the time of registration which includes your name, email etc. The difference is between the services they provide and how they provide it, what are the tools used for providing services. These websites make some data public when your signing in or registering, so some info is already public without consent. When I googled myself the first thing I saw was my display pics, they were all public. So, I have to now check settings and fix it.

I would definitely share with students and teachers about the main ideas in these policies. They should know what sort of data about them is stored by the online applications and how it’s used. This is a lot of data that is stored. But there are ways to erase it. Users have their own rights to access data from the portal and delete it. In some cases they can request the company to not record or process their data. Online applications store your device and IP data, which could be used to trace location. Users need to be careful socially when sharing financial data online, these could be hacked by hackers. An elder or parent should be with the kids when they are singing an account or creating a new account. The parent could skim through the policies too. Overall, it’s important that as educators we are aware of the policies about data protection and use. The world will be completely digital in the years to come and it’s important the developers and designers come up with safe user policies.

This activity could be linked to the following ISTE standard, because throughout the activity I was trying to evaluate resources, look for credibility, whether info is relevant or not. All privacy policies explain what data is collected from users, how the data will be used, what rights the user has over data. The same exercise could be done with  the students and they could review the products and decide when and how to use them.

Citizen 3b: Establish a learning culture that promotes curiosity and critical examination of online resources and fosters digital literacy and media fluency.

References:

1. Duolingo. 2020. Learn A Language For Free. [online] Available at: <https://www.duolingo.com/privacy> [Accessed 2 December 2020].
2. Zoom Video. 2020. Video Conferencing, Web Conferencing, Webinars, Screen Sharing. [online] Available at: <https://zoom.us/> [Accessed 2 December 2020].
3. Privacy.microsoft.com. 2020. Microsoft Privacy Statement – Microsoft Privacy. [online] Available at: <https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement> [Accessed 2 December 2020].