35
ISSUES: Privacy
Chapter 3: The Internet of Things
through their TVs. Information released
by WikiLeaks claims that MI5 and the
CIA had created a “fake off” mode for the
Samsung F8000 range that allowed them
to secretly record users’ conversations
through the camera andmicrophone.
How can you stop them?
TV manufacturers can only monitor
customers if they have provided their
consent. This is often asked for in the set-
up process, but can generally be revoked
at a later date in Settings.
Another way to protect yourself is to
make sure your TV is running the latest
software. You can do this by turning on
automatic updates or regularly checking
for them in Settings.
Samsung has said it is “urgently” looking
into the news that the CIA could have
monitored its customers’ conversations
through the Weeping Angel hack, but
has not commented on the validity of the
claims. If it finds a problem the company
is likely to issue a security update to fix
the bug.
8March 2017
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The
above
information
is
reprinted with kind permission
from
The Telegraph
. Please visit
for further
information.
©TelegraphMediaGroup Limited 2017
Online and out there:
how children view privacy
differently from adults
An article from
The Conversation
.
By Joanne Orlando, Senior lecturer, Educational Technology,
Western Sydney University
H
ave you seen the how-to
video of a teenage girl styling
her hair that went disastrously
wrong? She was obviously very
disturbed by what happened, yet still
uploaded the footage onto YouTube.
Do you think a 45- or 50-year-old
would upload an equivalent video of
themselves?
The majority of young people now
share lots of things online that
many adults question and feel
uncomfortable about: their likes,
dislikes, personal views, who they’re
in a relationship with, where they
are, images of themselves and others
doing things they should or maybe
shouldn’t be doing.
In fact, a study undertaken in the US
by Pew Research found that 91% of 12-
to 17-year-olds posted selfies online,
24% posted videos of themselves.
Another 91% were happy posting
their real name, 82% their birthday,
71% where they live and the school
they attend, 53% their email address
and 20% their mobile phone number.
Overstepping
Children’s fondness for online sharing
is a global phenomenon, and in
responsegovernments internationally
have initiated awareness campaigns
that aim to ensure children are more
private online.
In the UK, the National Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
recently launched a Share Aware
campaign. This includes the recent
TV advertisement, called I saw your
willy, which depicts the ill-fated
consequences of a young boy who, as
a joke, texts a photo of his penis to his
friend.
The ad emphasises to children the
need to keep personal information
about themselves offline and private.
Similarly, the Australian Federal Police
have launched Cyber safety and
ThinkUKnow presentations for school
students, which highlights the social
problems that can arise when you’re
having fun online.
Adults often interpret children’s
constant online sharing to mean that
they don’t care about privacy and/
or don’t understand the potential
longer-term issues. There is some
truth to this perspective. But simply
labeling children as either disobedient
or naïve is too simplistic. There is an
important need to understand why
children are overstepping adult-
defined marks of privacy online.
Shifting attitudes
In the words of Facebook, our
relationship status with privacy can
be summed up as: it’s complicated.
Part of the complexity comes down to
how privacy is defined. Many adults
understand privacy to mean being
selective about what one reveals
about themselves so as not to reveal
too much personal information. We
often assume that children will adopt
the same conceptualisation, but
should we?
Privacy is a fluid notion. Think of
Victorian times and the imperative for
women to keep their ankles hidden.
Part of the reason its definition is
shaped and reshaped is due to the
changing social environment in which
we live. This idea is useful for thinking
about why children divulge so much
information online.
Children are growing up in public (not
private) times, in which people freely
and constantly reveal themselves
on their screens. This is not solely
associated with physical nudity and
the stream of semi-clad women that
constantly inhabit advertisements,
