As technology advances, the world has become a more convenient and far less secretive place. Services like Facebook, Google and Instagram have created and replaced avenues of communication in a way that allows everyone to share more information with more people.
UBC's Digital Tattoo project aims to increase awareness of online security and privacy issues. Created with grant funding from UBC's teaching and learning enhancement fund and from BCcampus, the project brings students and university community members together to discuss ways in which they can help students make thoughtful decisions about their online presence. The project also works with other universities including Thompson Rivers University, the University of Victoria and the University of Toronto.
“We don't advocate [for a specific way of acting online] ... we’re really just trying to do some research on the tools, approaches and the things that students are thinking and people are saying with regard to their digital lives, and provide them with some information so that, as they're making decision about how they're interacting online, they're more informed,” said Cindy Underhill, the strategic co-lead of the project.
One focus of the project is making people more aware of free sharing services. When the service comes without a material cost, the service must be getting something out of it, making the people using the service the product.
“Applications and tools online are not neutral — there are people behind them. There are people that create them, there are people who market based on the data that they're gathering when people are using those tools,” said Underhill. “Sometimes students will download apps or use things because it's a quick, easy way to connect with others, but we're not really thinking about how our digital footprint is making it's way to others who are using that data for other purposes that we don't have any knowledge of.”
By increasing awareness, the project hopes to indirectly change behaviour.
“People are going to act differently and will, for example, say I don't agree with these terms of service because these are a little invasive and they don't download that app. They're voting via Pocketbook and making a choice, so they'll affect change,” said Bryan Short, a UBC student coordinator. “These app developers will react ‘okay, maybe we don't need to make all these requests. Maybe we don't need access to the camera or we don't need to know where this person is.’”
They also want to help students question the way their information is being used around them. One of Short's projects this year was a blog series titled "Connect Exposed," which examined Blackboard Connect and the information it stored — which included seemingly small things like your clicks, login info and time spent on pages.
“Why is this relevant? Is this being used to assess a grade for a student? If it is, shouldn't a student be aware that this kind of information is being recorded?” said Short.
Beyond social media and learning platforms like Connect, the Digital Tattoo project also wishes to remind students that just because a multi-million dollar company isn’t using your data, doesn’t make it safe. Citing a study done at the University of Indiana, Underhill explained that up to 23 per cent of people that receive “sext photos” report then sharing them with others. She also described the presentation the project is giving to UBC students at the faculty of education, transitioning from being student to teachers regarding their online presence. “From seemingly innocuous photos of someone drinking or on holiday or whatever, depending on [the photos'] context and the context of their teaching they can have serious consequences.”
Don Thompson, the deputy chief information officer with UBC's Information Security, agrees with the need for programs and initiatives like the Digital Tattoo project.
“I think the biggest thing is that because we’re using our devices so much and using them for so many things that we’ve become a little bit numb to the dangers involved,” he said.
UBC itself will be launching an campaign in October that will aim at helping “folks better understand how they can protect their information and how they can better protect the information of others that they have been entrusted.”
“Maybe students that have lists of other student names and phone numbers for a campus club, for example, or professors that have a student list with student numbers and grades,” said Thompson. “It’s not necessarily just our own information that we hold on our devices, but the information of others around us.”