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Who gets to see what on Me2U
One of the reasons we have chosen the elgg software to run Me2U at Athabasca is because it lets the creator of content and links decide who gets to read them (thus the drop down permissions screen with every blog posting, & profile field). When we first went online, the 'default' was that everyone could view (including Google search engines). But after complaints from students that they didn't realize this would happen, we reverted to the present practice of having the default be "logged in users" those with official AU logins - ie staff and students.
This seemed to be OK, until last week when someone did a Google search on their name and found that stuff was still being exposed. This included their student ID number (which is used as the directory to store the users account and content), the student's name as well as the names of their friends.
Inadvertent release of the student ID is a problem as the ID is used for other security issues at AU, and thus we quickly realized our mistake and changed this disclosure. We are still thinking about the name issue. It is likely hard to conceal. How important is this??
On the one hand identity theft is a big deal. On the other hand creating a web presence is deemed a critical component of social capital by many -including most young people as evidenced by the disclosure seen on faceBook and MySpace. Ironically I saw a TV show last week in which professional identity managers were helping people rid the Net of unflattering or slanderous accusations, not be trying to force their removal (an almost impossible task) but by creating a positive web presence so that unflattering comments would be lost in a see of legitimate web presence.
So my question to me2u'ers is:
Do you restrict postings you make or are you happy to share your insights with the world?
Does revealing your name (with no other details except your friends names) compromise your and your friends identity?
Thanks for your input in finding the right place in our security aware world for social tools like Me2U.
Terry Anderson
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Comments
The discovery that our student id numbers were available in the urls of search results in Google was a surprise. The question is how big a security threat is this? As a junior high teacher my name, email address, and workplace info is readily available on the Net. Add in the fact that I have several blogs that I post to regularly I have accepted that there is some risk to having an online presence.
I don't restrict postings to my Me2U blog, but interestingly I have restricted the files I have added to logged in users. These files are past assignments I have completed in previous MDDE courses and I don't mind sharing my work with my fellow students. I restricted access to my assignment files (not making them public) not because I worry about people plagerizing (you accept that possibility when you post any work anyway), but because the I was trying to add it as part of my e-portfolio.
What makes me uncomfortable is the posting of my student id which is used by AU to keep track of me as a student (i.e. grades, courses, payments, logon id...). As for my name, I'm not too worried. I already have an online presence and that has revealed more about me to Netizens than my name. In this line of work it has become a fact of life. If you are not comfortable with it don't post anything. ow realistic is that in our digital world?
Thanks for you comments Thomas. I imagine that your 'web presence' is similar to most other professional educators and MDE students.
To be clear, the student number is no longer accessible and we aplogize for the error (now corrected) on our part.
Terry