The Federal Trade Commission has just issued guidelines for behavioral advertising, a practice in which a marketer targets ads at a person or group based on their online activities, the San Jose Mercury News reports. The guidelines say Web sites must disclose to their users the data they're collecting on their activities "and give them a chance to opt out" of the data collection. "Privacy … [Read more...] about FTC’s new behavioral-ad guidelines
Literacy & Citizenship
Facebook, terms of use & privacy
The biggest news over the holiday weekend besides the economy was the buzz about Facebook's recent terms of service update. Facebook said it was all about consolidating and clarifying "what people could and could not do" on the site (see CEO Mark Zuckerberg's blog), but the ruckus raisers said it was about what Facebook could and could not do with users' content, CNET's Caroline McCarthy reports. … [Read more...] about Facebook, terms of use & privacy
The Net effect
Just why do we need to think before we post and text? A logical question your kids may be asking you. Here's a possible answer: because... online socializers and media sharers have invisible audiences those audiences could be small or huge (tough to tell) those readers, viewers, friends, acquaintances, potential ex-friends and employers can copy, paste, do just about anything they want with our … [Read more...] about The Net effect
Digital body art
A great metaphor for the Net effect on digital natives' lives is used by the University of British Columbia, which has a whole Web site about the "digital tattoo," with a tutorial on how to "Protect," "Connect," "Learn," and "Work" with the Net effect. Here's how UBC explains it: "Just like a tattoo, your digital reputation is an expression of yourself. It's highly visible, and hard to remove. … [Read more...] about Digital body art
Virtual, real ‘Global Sim’ class
Ever thought of doing a non-virtual sim of the world, a mini Planet Earth, in a football stadium? Prof. Michael Wesch did. It's his Anthropology 204 class at Kansas State University, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Actually, his class's World Sim is in a giant rodeo arena, not a football stadium. It's designed "to push students to stop asking, 'What’s going to be on the test?' and to … [Read more...] about Virtual, real ‘Global Sim’ class