Online Security - Digital Identity

Your Digital Identity

    • Discuss: What is a digital identity?

    • What makes interactions online different from in person?

    • What do I want to do online and who do I want to be?

    • How do I imagine that I appear to others online?

Activity: Google your own name. Try adding your name + "Coquitlam" or "Pinetree Secondary". What do you find?

Google the name of somebody else you know. What do you find?

Now try again using these other search tools:

How do these results vary from site to site?

Discuss:

  • What did you find out about the person being searched?

  • Was that accurate?

  • What was missing/ not included?

  • What first impressions can be drawn over the internet?

Copy this "Digital Identity" file into your Google Docs and define the following terms (be prepared to share your definitions):

  • Digital Footprint

  • Digital Dossier

  • Digital Shadow

    • Digital Citizenship

Keep the Doc open and proceed to Assignment 1

Try: Protect Quiz - What do you think?

Assignment 1

Watch: What if we looked you up online, what would we find?

Answer these questions while watching the video:

    1. What types of information do the first three or four individuals in the video think is out there about them on the Internet? Is it appropriate? Do you think they all feel good about it? Why or why not?

    2. What info do you think is out there about you online? Do you feel good about what's out there? Why or why not?

    3. When it comes to the Internet, is it helpful or harmful to have a common name that a lot of other people also have?

* Assignment 1 & 2 should be completed & submitted in the same document *

Assignment 2

Watch: My Digital Dossier

Answer these questions while watching the video:

    1. What is a digital dossier?

    2. When does it start?

    3. What is the first ever part of Andy's digital dossier?

    4. When Andy is born, what information does his digital bracelet have?

    5. When Andy goes on Neopets, what information does he provide about himself?

    6. What information does Andy post on Facebook? What does Facebook do with this information?

    7. What does Google do with the searches that Andy performs?

    8. What happens when Andy buys something from Amazon?

    9. What does Andy's cell phone GPS do?

    10. What happens when Andy gets married?

    11. What will happen to Andy's dossier when he dies?

    12. Think about what you found out about yourself in our previous activity. What does your digital dossier say about you?

Place finished questions on your website Homework page. Title it "Your Name - Digital Dossier Movie"

Discuss / Consider:

    • What does my digital dossier look like?

    • How much does my digital dossier contribute to my online identity?

    • How do I build the online identity that I want?

Managing Your Digital Dossier

As the video illustrates, almost all of us (especially those born in the last 20 years) will have some form of digital dossier. Some of the information in that dossier will be publicly accessible and some will be private and protected by the agencies who generate the records or information. Do you know how to manage the parts of your dossier that you have control over? Here are some considerations:

  • Who will manage your digital dossier when you die? There are companies (like Legacy Locker) that will take this on for a fee. Is this important to you?

  • How much access will you have to your medical records when your doctor goes digital? Listen to CBC’s interview with Richard Alvarez, CEO Canada Health Infoway, on electronic health records (5:00) for some enlightening information on the risks and benefits of electronic health records.

Read: 11 Tips for Students to Manage their Digital Footprints

Watch: Managing your Digital Footprint