This video is the first of a 3-part privacy workshop we did at Portland’s Techno-Activism 3rd Mondays on three consecutive Mondays in June — 14th, 21st, and 28th. AJ Rice was the presenter for all three sessions. AJ is a privacy advocate and the Founder & CEO of Privo Mobile and author of the privacy blog Private Matters.
What the Internet Knows about Us
There’s a myth our personal data is all anonymous and that the different bits of information we give to different companies remain in separate silos; that a bunch of companies know a little about us, but no one has a complete view. In reality, our data is so granular it can easily be used to identify us, and so widely shared it can easily all be linked together.
In this session, AJ Rice will provide a broad overview of what the internet knows about us, how companies and governments track us, and why they track us. The session will cover what data specific companies and industries collect about us, how they obtain the data with or without our knowledge, and what happens to that data after they collect it.
After the presentation and Q&A, the session will conclude with a guided hands-on exercise geared at helping attendees better understand what data is being collected about them personally.
Referenced sources & related materials:
Apps sharing data w/ Facebook:
- You give apps sensitive personal information. Then they tell Facebook.
- How Menstruation Apps Are Sharing Your Data | Privacy International
Mobile location tracking & data resale:
- Your Apps Know Where You Were Last Night, and They’re Not Keeping it Secret
- Twelve Million Phones, One Dataset, Zero Privacy
- I Gave a Bounty Hunter $300. Then He Located Our Phone