Protecting your search privacy A lesson plan created & presented by Maria Bernhey (MLS) Adjunct Information Literacy Instructor

 The purpose of this lesson plan is to educate students about search engine privacy because  policies are vague  most web users do not read OR do not understand the lengthy privacy terms frequently modified by search engines. Purpose:

 By sitting through this presentation you agree to my privacy policy and terms Consent This is my very tiny and very small privacy policy that is impossible to read. This policy may look like a lot of text but it is not. It only appears like a lot of text so that you’ll give up reading this and just consent. By agreeing to sit and listen to this presentation you have all agreed to write down your deepest, personal thoughts on a piece of paper, submit it to the deepest thoughts box and share it with the entire audience here today for the purpose of proving a point that your search engine knows more about these deep inner thoughts than you realize. If you do not get up and leave the room after reading these very tiny terms you are consenting to this data collection and use. Please enjoy this short presentation. Thank you and have a nice day. AcceptDecline

This is my very tiny and very small privacy policy that is impossible to read. This policy may look like a lot of text but it is not. It only appears like a lot of text so that you’ll give up reading this and just consent. By agreeing to sit and listen to this presentation you have all agreed to write down your deepest, personal thoughts on a piece of paper, submit it to the deepest thoughts box and share it with the entire audience here today for the purpose of proving a point that your search engine knows more about these deep inner thoughts than you realize. If you do not get up and leave the room after reading these very tiny terms you are consenting to this data collection and use. Please enjoy this short presentation. Thank you and have a nice day. Consent?  You’ve just agreed to disclose your personal inner thoughts, to be published for the entire audience after this presentation.

Parent company: Google Inc. Parent company: Microsoft Corporation Parent company: Yahoo Inc. Latest revision May 1, 2015 Latest revision March 2015 Latest revision September 25, 2014 Link to privacy policy olicies/privacy/ Link to privacy policy m/privacystatement/en- us/BingandMSN/default.as px Link to privacy policy /us/en/yahoo/privacy/prod ucts/search/ Search engines in focus &

 Cookies  Internet Protocol (IP) address  Unique Device ID (UDI)  Web Beacons Helpful terms

 Cookies – small files stored on a users device that saves their preferences for that website  Internet Protocol (IP) address – Can be used to identify the location from which the device is connecting to the internet Helpful terms continued…

 Unique Device ID (UDI) – String of characters used by a device manufacturer that can be used by other technology to identify that device.  Web Beacons- analytic object embedded in a web page or that checks if a user has accessed certain content. Helpful terms cont…

 You have a right to privacy online it protects your,  identity  freedom to access information  search history & details that may be vulnerable to access or security breaches by an unauthorized party Privacy matters

 Your search engine may know more about you than your closest friends and family.  Through your queries you may provide your, -Race-Gender -Religion-Political beliefs -Medical concerns-Legal concerns -Location-Travel info -Personal interests-Product preferences Personal profile

 When creating an account to tailor your search engine experience you volunteer your,  Name  Location (country and/or postal code)  Birthday  Gender  Your cell phone number  Your address (and/or secondary address)  Photo (when applicable) Personalization

Information collection What information is collected?  Search queries (your keywords)  Date & time of search  Browser  IP Address & location  Origin URL  Cookies  UDI

All three of the major search engines state their collection of your data is to,  personalize user experience  return relevant results & advertisements  improve the quality of their products and services  fix crashes or other software errors Information utilization

All three sites state that they do not reveal personally identifying information. You are reviewed as a group of data or an aggregate. Who requests your searching habits?  Marketers and researchers  Vendors  Government and law enforcement agencies Access to your data

 Protecting your privacy indicates you have something to hide  It’s pointless to limit what you share because web privacy in non-existent Misconceptions

There are a number of ways to protect or limit the collection of your information. Users can easily  adjust personal search engine settings  enable private browsing  select “do not track” option on browsers  use multiple search engines  use private search alternatives like DuckDuckGo Protecting your privacy

Private search alternative DuckDuckGo is a general search engine that does not collect your personal information.  There are some differences in using a non-tracking search engine  You have your privacy but your results are not personalized  You can modify settings and volunteer some personal details to return local relevant searches Latest privacy policy revision April 11, 2012 Privacy policy link

Users who are more comfortable with navigating privacy settings and managing their data can,  Download browser add-ons  Modify Cookies  Block cookies (**this may prevent some functionality)  Download & use Tor to protect communication Even more protection

Bing and MSN Privacy Statement. (2015, March 1). Retrieved April 15, 2015, from DuckDuckGo Privacy. (2012, April 11). Retrieved April 14, 2015, from Privacy Policy – Privacy & Terms – Google. (2015, May 1). Retrieved May 2, 2015, from Tor: Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved May 1, 2015, from Yahoo Privacy Center. (2014, September 25). Retrieved April 15, 2015, from References