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Is your technology tracking you? The more websites and apps we use online, the more personal information we give to the technology companies that run them- from our names, birthdays, and family members, to our photos, locations, likes and dislikes. And even when we aren’t knowingly sharing our information, websites and apps use different technologies to collect information about what we do online.
This (Mis)Information Lab Primer will connect you with resources that will help you understand:
- Why and how do technology companies collect our data?
- What do technology companies do with our data?
- What are the pros and cons of technology companies having a lot of our information?
- What are some common concerns about data and privacy?
Key Definitions
- Personal data: information collected & held about a person based on online activity that can be used to trace or identify an individual.
- Digital footprint: all of the information about a person that is available online.
- Cookies: small pieces of information that are stored on your computer when you browse the internet. Most websites keep cookies that track what you do online- login history, clicks, online shopping carts, and more.
- Personalized Ads: Online ads that are shown specifically to you based on the personal data that companies collec
Books
Research and Learn with Online Resources
Other Resources
Online Courses
Understanding Browser Tracking
This brief course from GCF Global designed for new internet users covers how website cookies and online accounts track your activity and how you can adjust the settings to better control your online privacy.
Websites
The Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Advice on Online Privacy and Security
The FTC publishes dozens of articles on online privacy and security with explanations and practical tips. Many of the articles focus on taking steps to avoid getting scammed and hacked, but there are several that explain how online tracking works. Keep this page in your toolbox to refer back to as needed.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, or EFF, is a national non-profit organization that focuses on digital privacy, free speech, and innovation. On their privacy page, you can explore an in-depth list of privacy-related topics that experts are keeping their eyes on, from online privacy to various forms of surveillance by companies and governments.
Articles
“Your Car May be Spying on You” | New York Times’ The Daily podcast, aired March 18, 2024.
New York Times reporter Kashmir Hill reports that newer cars come equipped with on-board computers that can log and track data about your whereabouts and how you drive, and that this data is being used in ways that many drivers find invasive, including by abusive partners and by insurance companies to determine rates, oftentimes without drivers’ knowledge.
“Mortgage Brokers Sent People’s Estimated Credit, Address, and Veteran Status to Facebook” | The Markup, May 15, 2024.
The Markup, an investigative journalism organization that focuses on technology, reports that many mortgage companies use a technology called the “Meta Pixel” on their websites. The Meta Pixel is a tool developed by Meta, the company that owns Facebook, that gathers large amounts of user data about search and browsing activity that is then used to create targeted advertising. In this case the Metal Pixel was found to be tracking customers’ sensitive financial and personal data on several mortgage lenders’ websites.
Videos
This video from Wired’s Tech Truth series goes into detail about the various ways different smartphones track us: when they listen, when location data is being used