Shelby Say

[shelbysay-blog]

Do Not Track

Episode 1:

I typically get my news from Facebook.com. I learned that trackers connect to what you do and where you are every day. Cookies record files and daily activity  and it builds a profile. These profiles of yourself can be sold to companies for advertisement purposes. Amazon and Netflix builds a profile mostly by what you show interests in. From there, they suggest what you may be further interested in. What you put out impacts everyone else. 

You can’t really avoid being tracked unless you don’t have a phone or technology device at all. Anything you do or anywhere you go, you will be tracked. But there are resources such as; Lightbeam, Ghostery, & Disconnect.me, that may help you see who's tracking you. Do Not Track didn’t quite hit what they intended which was, being able to turn off invasive tracking. 

Episode 2:

Trackers, text files, identification numbers all remember you when you come back. They will save this personal profile of your previous interests so that when you revisit a site, it will automatically remember what you liked from before. Pop up ads didn’t work because we just learned to ignore them. DoubleClicks was legal decision and was basically wire tapping, kind of as if we told a friend to listen in on our lives all the time. Advertising transformed the internet economy in many ways because now industries are fighting over to obtain these personal profiles that are being created. Paying for online services are an alternative and I would personally pay $5.00/ year to not be tracked. 

Instead of clicking “Okay” when a cookie ad pops up, there are other things you should do to protect yourself from cookies. You could block third-party cookies, use any of the resources listed in Episode 1, or use ShareMeNot. They are, for the most art, effective but the advertising industries are trying to find new ways to track you without using cookies. Therefore, the best way to not be tracked is to not go on the internet at all. 

Episode 3:

Illumines was created to show that there are websites like it that already exists. On Illumines, by connecting to our social media, companies can get a user good rates on insurances just by using basic information given on their social media profile. Just by the general information you provide, companies can build this second digital self and basically determine what your psychological state, stereotypes about you, and how these affect your personality. Everything can be deduced. Google and other companies are selling our information for advertisement purposes. Algorithms are all based on your behavior on these social media sites. We can’t completely control our self digital self. Governments are taking steps away on our privacy laws and data protection. 

You are definitely not safe even if you don’t have a Facebook profile. Chances are, you might be in a friends or families picture and now have this online profile that you haven’t created yourself. By liking things on Facebook, you are creating this psychological profile of yourself, giving advertising industries references on who you are and what you may be interested in. Therefore, your online profile becomes everything relating to what you like. If you were to like everything on Facebook, this will portray an incorrect version of your second self. 

Episode 4: 

When we download apps on our phones, we have to agree to the terms of use. These apps also needs to access our geolocation, contacts, UDID, or API. I only allow close family to access my phone and download 0-15 apps on my phone versus the average of 26. Google uses Ip addresses, GPS and wifi to track us. We can ask them to stop but they do not delete all previous information collected about us. All data can be found on this data such as where we are, what our daily activity typically looks like, who we associate with, when we go about our routines, etc. When using free wifi at places, people normally leave their wifi enabled and this will signal satellites and keep a tracker on us. We have no control over our phone usage on the capabilities of it. It transmits data without us knowing. How long on what apps leaves a trace and impacts our personal profile. When Russian protestors received a text while being involved in a protest, they were highly concerned about the capabilities of being traced. Our behavior is more powerful than our personal identities (social security numbers). There aren’t any ways to opt out and industries are highly competitive over obtaining peoples information. 

To protect your smartphone you could, be aware of what apps you really need, disable geolocations, do not connect to free wifi, and install Clueful to see what information is being used by what apps. Smartphones are a risk to your privacy because they are always being tracked by your cell phone carriers. They know where you go, at what time, and what you do for how long. This is definitely a high invasion to your privacy and can definitely impact your life. 

Episode 5:

Algorithms hep filter out and show us what we want to see by previous connections and activity. 90% of data were produced within the past 2 years and intentionally we wanted to use data to better our society. Big data is a huge sea of information, more than we know what to do with it. It’s gathered by all interactions and centralized. This is benefiting the economy, as industries want all of this information, but may have a negative impact on the society. When connecting the points, an example popped up on how those three points you picked were interconnected. They have found that human behavior may be predictable through this full data set. Some issues are that people claim that it is discrimination through behavior for advertising purposes. They only show what they think we want to see. 

We are being categorized by every interaction we make with technology. Whether it’s clicks on Facebook, searches, connections to free wifi, etc, all of these algorithms connect to categorize us. Some resources we have to get a glimpse of our categorizations are Floodwatch or the Ad Parameter page on Google. This relates to the Minority Report because with these algorithms, we are categorized into stereotypes and may be slightly racist. Just because someone may like violent movies, doesn't necessarily mean they are violent themselves, but that is exactly what categorization from algorithms suggest. When Janet Vertesi tried to hide her pregnancy, she was rude to her friends and family because she had to deny any “congratulations” messages from them. She also looked like a bad citizen because she had to do all purchasing under the radar so that no trackers can lead back to her. Algorithms can lead to implications on civil rights because computers now how the capability to determine our financial, social, health, educational and criminal lives. Google is the biggest algorithm that dominates our world. 

Episode 6:

Filters are not determined by our friends and who we associate with, not the traditional editors of newspapers. They assume that since you share similarities between certain people, you will most likely we concerned about similar topics of news. This can create issues because we now only see what is pre-predicated for us, but we are totally blinded about all the other news that is happening simply because it our interests are pointed in that direction. Editors don’t determine what everyone sees anymore. Optimization is for companies to put out what they think we want to see so that the consumer stays and is interested instead of challenging their viewpoints and offering a wider range of information that they may not like, resulting in leaving that site/ company.

It is important to be aware of the filter bubble because as Eli Pariser mentions, we aren’t exposed to information that can challenge our view since that content isn’t what we are interested based on our filtering history. This may relate to the disappearance of mass media because we are now in a generation of everyone being their own journalist. There are no editors of newspaper to decide what to discard as insignificant content. Facebook blames the users for their News Feed to contain the same type of content all the type because it’s our faults for friending people with similar interests or liking relating posts. I disagree with this highly because I don't feel that it’s right to deny everyone a wide range of news just because of our relationships with our friends and family. In order to get our of this filter bubble, you should offer opposing opinions to friends and find relations of opinions in other topics. 

Episode 7:

A utopian view on the internet is that it is user-controlled, creation of a powerful society through connections and can solve many problems. But that isn’t the case. Edward crashed the party because he showed the world that technology, such as our phones, can be accessed and have us surveillance. We found out that we are basically being spied on by the government. Since our cell phone is ultimately synced to our identity, the government can know where we are and have us traced down instantaneously. Ever since 9/11, we felt the need to have more surveillance. We can’t have privacy without security or vice versa. We aren;t using the tools around us properly to build this ideal society, but the only thing we can do is be more conscious and aware. Top-down data is seeing there is a problem and finding a solution versus bottom-up data has the community reflecting on the data and adjusting their behavior to guide a result in a different direction. 

Edward Snowden impacted the world by making the people aware of the governments actions as far as privacy and security. The government is highly surveying our every day actions. Some view him as a traitor but other think otherwise--a hero. I personally feel that privacy matters because every person has things about them that they wish to keep to themselves simply because it makes them, them. We can reclaim our privacy by using free and open software and end-to-end encryption. We should care about our digital footprint because we should protect our reputation, who we share them with, and to keep our financial standings okay. There isn’t really any future in privacy online because in order to exist online, you share your life publicly. 

Reflection:

I feel like I have learned a lot about my interactions with technology and am definitely more aware about the affects that will happen when I use technology. I learned a lot about the industries surrounding these profiles and information that has been gathered about myself. I find it scary how people I don’t even know, knows a great deal of information about me and can do a lot with that information. I have been conscious of what I input on the internet but wasn’t aware that my behavior on my day-to-day life is more valuable than my own identity. I feel that our government does not have the right to obtain all this information about us, especially is some of it is implied due to our associations and connections with other people. I feel that they definitely need to take major steps on data protection laws. 

[shelbysay-blog]

Canada as a Knowledge Economy

Introduction:

A knowledgable economy is intangible goods and ideas that have become the center of profit, known as the knowledge economy. A knowledge economy is a system that functions through the controlled distribution of useful information. Google Instant result defines knowledge economy as, “an economy in which growth is dependent on the quantity, quality, and accessibility of the information available, rather than on the means of production”. In other words, the old rules of capitalism are no longer relevant and are in need of revision. In this setting, knowledge is used very similarly to currency. This economy supports the exchange of goods and services for information of high value, in place of money. Knowledge has begun to replace the more traditional form of currency, and has become key to the growth and prosperity of the world.

Globalization has been a key component in the emergence of the knowledge economy. As the world becomes smaller and smaller through increasing connections, further easing communication and distribution, some commodities have become less significant. Knowledge, on the other hand, will never lose it’s power. This is because for information to become knowledge, it must be of value to someone. The value attached to a piece of information is what gives the holder of the information power.

The knowledge economy is important because it revolutionizes the way that business, as well as every day life, functions. As the world progresses, adapting new ideas and ways of life is essential if we hope to keep moving forward. Businesses are increasingly more able to work outside of traditional economic boundaries and embrace the use of knowledge as a commodity. Additionally, every day people are able to function in the same way on a smaller scale. In order to obtain what one wants, people no longer are limited to one form of exchange but instead have opened up to the exchange of information.

The industries involved in the knowledge economy are endless. Any industry can utilize this economy to their benefit as long as they do so in an intelligent and informed manner. One example could include environmental conservation. In order to understand what methods of obtaining energy used in the past are most effective, a company could obtain information from others who have already used those methods and discover the impacts of different methods and compare them in order to find what is most effective. Another example could include healthcare. If a certain prescription is selling more than another, a company could use that information to help dictate how much of a pill they should stock.

Canada is placed fairly high on the KEI scale at number seven, according to the 2012 rankings. This is a jump up from where they were placed in 2000, where they were number 10. An increase of three places in twelve years suggests that Canada is providing a competitive edge to the knowledge economy and is pushing others to advance. However, in 2008, Canada was placed at number six. This means that Canada’s placement has slightly fluctuated. New Zealand, which was previously number 15 on the scale, rose to sixth in only four years. In order to keep this position and potentially keep climbing up, Canada will need to continue to be prevalent in their public support for innovation by educating their populous. Without the continued support of the people, the economy could potentially collapse. The same outcome is possible if information and communications technologies come to a halt or even just begin to slow. If any pillar of the World Bank’s promotion of knowledge creation and application is not fully developed and continuing to improve, the ranking of the country is sure to be demoted.

Evaluation:

The importance of these four pillars are to access an economy through acquisition, creation, dissemination and application of knowledge. These four pillars include quality education system, high speed broadbands, public support for innovation and quality of governance. Canada’s 2012 overall KEI has decreased since 2000.

The quality education system in Canada is increasing and they are continuously taking steps to improve it. Canada’s high speed broadband infrastructure is based on an economy that doesn’t completely rely on innovation. They have been lagging in embodied innovations and are attempting to take steps in improving that. Public support for innovation in Canadian businesses needs to take steps in gaining productivity in innovation-related methods. The quality of governance in Canada are slow on adopting leading-edge technology. They’ve been having to catch up on new technology which puts them behind on a global scale.

Opportunities and Challenges:

In the modern day, Canada exhibits a divided economy: a knowledge economy in the East and a resource-based economy in the West.  Larger cities in the East, like Montreal and Toronto, utilize the knowledge economy.  Oil is a major part of the economy in the smaller, more rural areas in Western Canada while other regions in the East breed creative thinking jobs.  In a recent story in The Globe and Mail, Richard Florida and Greg Spencer break down the five pillars that the next Canadian leadership should consider implementing to improve the hybrid economy.  The first investment that the next administration can make would be to change housing regulations to allow for a maximized living density for the population.  Next, trains and subways can be used for transportation instead of cars that cause congestion on roadways.  In terms of housing, the leadership in Canada can also increase the amount of affordable, condensed housing to boost the population.  Similar to the United States, Canada has an upper class filled with creative, engaging jobs while the lower class has to work service jobs.  In order to improve creativity in the workforce, Canada needs to give more creative work to the service workers, which will increase the amount of production; minimum wage also needs to be adjusted to better suit certain cities where the living costs are more than in the smaller cities.  Lastly, Canadian cities must be given more “taxing and spending” opportunities, so that they can more accurately determine their own futures (Florida and Spencer, 2015).  The five pillars involving density, infrastructure, affordable housing, urban job improvement, and federalist powers prove to be the challenges that face the Canadian economy today.  The opportunities for change are presented in the form of an urbanization process that Canada must go through in order to completely shift to a knowledge economy.

Individual:

Upskilling is the practice of teaching employees (of a certain profession) additional skills. Companies look to upskill their employees so that they are familiar with the changing economy and can adapt to the advances that are taking place. For individuals who are looking to be hired and enter this economy, they must be willing to learn new skills in order to expand their capabilities, which in turn advances the economy. This means that employees will be more knowledgeable and the quality of products will improve. Employers always look for individuals who can problem solve, communicate, and work well with others.   In the knowledge-based economy, individuals must also be able to continuously learn information and have the competence to use and apply the information. Workers have a strong educational background and should have “the ability to acquire and apply new and theoretical knowledge” (OECD). Unlike the past, workers are being increasingly “paid for their codified and tacit knowledge skills rather than for manual work.” The advancement of technology and thinking and the accessibility to information has changed the way that the knowledge-based economy operates.

Sources:

Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2016.

"By Ignoring the Knowledge Economy, Canada Is Taking a Step Backward." The Globe and Mail. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2016.

Gilbert, David. "Ashley Madison Hack: Who Are Impact Team, Why Did They Leak Website Data and Will They Be Caught?" International Business Times RSS. N.p., 20 Aug. 2015. Web. 21 Jan. 2016.

"Knowledge Economy Index." Knowledge Economy Index. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2016.

Authors: 

@guyt5179​ @hart0792​ @fies3023​ @shelbysay​

[shelbysay-blog]

Network

Some primary features of a network is simple interface, search results and filtering, and real time updates. Networking helps to connect computers and devices throughout a wide range of space. Social network connects human interaction. Actor network connects human and non-human beings. Protocols help enable devices and machines run and communicate smoothly. Meta-rules help networks such as the Internet to be universally equal. Since there are many different connections of devices contributing to running the Internet. Protocols help manage them to a “standard” form. Since there isn’t a single protocol, there are suites of protocols that manage different communication processes. “Networks are open structures, able to expand without limits.” (Castells 1996: 501-2). Networking evolved over time and now has a new meaning to today’s society than it did when it started around the 1990’s. 

Case study: The MIDI is a database set in place by musical manufacturers to make sure that all of the musical instruments made by different manufacturers would be able to work with one another. It is a database that was established in january 1982 and was put into instruments by the end of the year. This made it so all musicians regardless of the brand of instrument that they used would be able to collaborate with one another and they would be compatible. This is a voluntary act that is still widely used by musical manufacturers to this day.

These are examples of some of today's most popular social media applications. Social networking is a form of networking that gives people from all over the world the ability to connect and communicate. People can create and curate their own content and share it with the entire world. It is one massive network that connects people everywhere.

Authors:

@gracemcclain2 @zanechitwood @shelbysay @bclark2448