LESSON 2
Your Digital Footprint
What you will learn in this lesson
Digital Awareness
Your Digital Footprint
What is privacy and data protection?
Privacy and you
Passwords
Cybersecurity, phishing and spam
Angela is now on the internet. She loves what she can do on it.
She has multiple social media accounts just like her friends.
She has accounts using useful tools for communication, productivity & learning.
What do you think Angela needs to be aware with her digital activity?
Digital Identity
Just like your real identity, we will also have a digital version of ourselves in our activities on the Internet.
We need to be aware of what we allow people to see about us on the Internet.
Often times our digital content are not perceived the same way as how we perceive it.
We need to be careful of what we put in the digital world and who can see them.
What do you do when you are sharing your digital content?
Have you had any experiences where people misunderstood what you shared online?
Personal Digital Footprint
We need to think carefully of the information other people can find out about ourselves.
When our personal information is on the Internet, anyone from all over the world can easily access it from their computer. This is called your digital footprint.
Are they able to know where we live?
Will they know my daily schedule?
How can others access information about us?
Social Media
People use social media to share about their lives with others. This includes some of our private information. What are some things people can find out from what you post online?
Cookies
Organizations can get information about you not only from what you post but also what you search and the websites you access. Websites use cookies to remember this information.
What are cookies?
Cookies are used as tools to remember certain information that the websites need about you.
Why do we need cookies?
Cookies help websites give you a good user experience because websites are able to remember your past activities
Are cookies spying on me?
Cookies can, to some extent, collect personal data from users. It's good to be aware about what data cookies are collecting from you.
How do we protect ourselves online?
We can choose to manage the cookies that the websites use. When you enter a website, you can choose to ‘Manage Cookies’
Based on what you have learnt so far, think about why it is important to keep your digital identity secure?
Privacy and You
What does privacy mean to you?
Privacy refers to how we choose to handle information about ourselves.
It’s important that we become aware of our own understanding of privacy and that we think about whether we are comfortable with that understanding or not.
Take a look at Angela’s post below:
Image credit: Canva
What kind of information do you now have about Angela?
From the post, someone can probably tell:
What Angela and her friend look like
How Angela and her friends are feeling
Where they are
Which school they go to
Although some information may not be dangerous or secrets, you should consider who you would like to share it with.
Here are more questions to consider about privacy:
Are there some things you might keep from your parents/guardians or friends?
Are there some things you might keep from your teacher?
Are there some things you might keep from strangers or a friend of a friend?
Here's a quick quiz to test how much you know about what data is considered private.
Watch This Video!
Privacy and You
Do you know what your current privacy settings are on each social media platform?
Take a minute to check all your social media accounts and your privacy settings.
Each social media account has different privacy settings even within public or private spaces
Public
Public means that anyone on the social media site can see anything you post. But in some cases, you may be able to block certain people or change the settings for certain posts.
Private
Private means that only approved followers or friends can see your posts. On some sites, you can change this as well depending on the post.
As you check your privacy settings, here are some questions to ask yourself:
Is your overall account set to public, private or something else?
How did you decide on this setting?
Are your current privacy settings what you want it to be?
Angela is 13 years old and she loves singing.
She feels that she is not great at it yet, but she would like to share her passion with her friends and get their input on it. She is considering adding some videos of her singing some of her favourite songs on a social media platform.
What type of platform would you recommend?
What do you think would be the ideal privacy settings for the platform?
Write down your answer and explanation for your answer in the padlet below!
Passwords
How to create a strong password:
How to create a strong password:
Connect a string of four or more unrelated words that makes it harder to guess
E.g. 45cheese + horse + train + word = 45cheesehorsetrainword#
Social hacking/ engineering
If someone knows enough information about you, they could guess your password!
Cybersecurity, Phishing and Spam
When using the internet, you may be exposed to safety risks through accessing a web page, communicating online, or downloading data.
It is sometimes possible for websites you access, people on the same network, or even third parties to figure out your location or other information about you when you browse.
Malware
What is Malware?
Malware is harmful code that runs on your computer. Some malware can collect data from your computer. It can also allow hackers to take control of your computer.
Most malware is simpler, though, such as websites that imitate secure portals like a bank or extensions that put advertisements in your browser to make money.
Online risks
Be careful when clicking links, ads, or social media posts
Does the URL match what you expect?
Do you get to the same page when you type it again or search for the website?
Phishing vs Spam
Phishing
Email sent from an Internet criminal disguised as an email from a legitimate, trustworthy source.
Spam
Unsolicited email, instant messages, or social media messages