We’re frequently invited to schools to talk about online privacy. And when we’re there, we often hear about the challenges related to kids’ use of technology that educators face daily. For many teachers, the question of their own involvement is murky at best – much of this online activity takes place outside of the schoolyard, often after the end of the school day. But the repercussions of those activities can reach into, and disrupt, the classroom.

Technological solutions, like attempts to limit access to certain websites, seem backwards and futile. The most successful approaches so far seem to be the ones that aim to empower and engage young people, by helping them evolve beyond simply users of technology to become true digital citizens.

A recent study from the U.S. suggests that teachers who are comfortable with technology report greater student learning, specifically when it comes to those skills related to digital citizenship:

“Frequent technology users place considerably more emphasis on developing students’ 21st century skills–specifically, skills in accountability, collaboration, communication, creativity, critical thinking, ethics, global awareness, innovation, leadership, problem solving, productivity and self-direction. Frequent users also have more positive perceptions about technology’s effects on student learning of these skills–and on student behaviors associated with these skills.”

This skill set is increasingly becoming essential for success in our world. Having a true digital citizenry is still a long way away, but the march toward this goal has already started, at home, and in classrooms and libraries and community centres around the world. We need to continue to play and experiment and grow comfortable with these new tools, and we need to encourage those of us around us – teachers included – to do so as well.

Two years ago, we launched our youthprivacy.ca website to engage people on the issues around young people and digital privacy.

When we launched youthprivacy.ca, Twitter had about 500,000 users, Google was rumoured to be entering the mobile phone market, and the idea of managing your digital footprint was just gaining some steam.

To say a lot has changed over the last 24 months would be an understatement.

We want to redesign the site to better present existing and new content, and highlight resources and work being done elsewhere on the topic. We also want the process of rebuilding this website to be open and transparent. We feel that there is a much larger community of public servants and private citizens with the experience, the expertise and the skill sets to make this a useful and highly collaborative exercise.

After all, why build communities of practice if we only continue to build projects within silos and concealed behind departmental garden walls?

We are inviting input from people with interest and expertise from both within government (specifically #w2p and #ux communities of practice, and those with experience reaching out to young people and engaging in public education and social marketing) and external to government (non-profit sector, educators and librarians, young people themselves).

Much of the process will be run on GCpedia to facilitate contribution among Government of Canada employees. For folks external to government without access to GCpedia, we’ll provide some updates on this page – and if you have ideas on how we can open up collaboration to the outside community, let us know.

Check out the wiki page on GCpedia or this page for additional information, and let us know if you interested in pitching in. And I’ll leave you with this thought:

“It’s always easier to tame a wild idea than to invigorate a limp one.”

Once again, students from the Encounters with Canada program have selected the winners of our annual student video contest! Here are the winners for our 2009 competition:

The three top video artists in the live action category were:

1^st place: Jeffery Burge, Vanessa Caicedo, Alexandra Georgaras, Gareth Imrie and Fiona Sauder of Canterbury High School in Ottawa, Ontario, with a video titled “Think Before You Click”. They win a $100 gift card and an iPod Touch.

2^nd place: David Borish and Mory Kaba of Glebe Collegiate Institute in Ottawa, Ontario, with a video titled “Friend or Foe”. They win a $250 gift card.

3^rd place: Jennifer Paul from Brampton, Ontario, with a video titled “Too Good to be True”. She wins a $150 gift card.

The three top video artists in the animation category were:

1^st place: Tyler Ford and Matthew Kerr of Osgoode Township High School in Metcalfe, Ontario, with a video titled “Privacy: Think Before You Click”. They win a $100 gift card and an iPod Touch.

2^nd place: Rebecca Kartzmart and Emily Patterson of Osgoode Township High School in Metcalfe, Ontario, with a video titled “Carol the Carrot”. They win a $250 gift card.

3^rd place: Scott Piper of Osgoode Township High School in Metcalfe, Ontario, with a video titled “Privacy Matters”. He wins a $150 gift card.

The three top video artists in the French video category were:

1^st place: Benjamin Dion-Weiss of l’École secondaire publique De La Salle in Ottawa, Ontario, with a video titled “Le réseautage social d’après le Comte Hackula”. He wins a $100 gift card and an iPod Touch.

2^nd place: Stéphanie Lemieux and Emily Vendette of l’École secondaire catholique Embrun in Embrun, Ontario, with a video titled “Le Journal de Lisa”. They win a $250 gift card.

3^rd place: Cosmo Darwin of l’École secondaire publique De La Salle in Ottawa, Ontario, with a video titled “Trouvée & Perdu”. He wins a $150 gift card.

The three top video artists in the Junior category were:

1^st place: Mackenzie Giffen, Chris Johnstone, Chris Nattrass, Curtis Sookhoo and Gabriel Zingle of F.R. Haythorne Junior High in Sherwood Park, Alberta, with a video titled “The Spanish Lottery”. They win a $100 gift card and an iPod Touch.

2^nd place: Trevor Aiello, Connor Bergersen, Chad Bullock and Lochlan Thomson of F.R. Haythorne Junior High in Sherwood Park, Alberta, with a video titled “A lesson In Privacy”. They win a $250 gift card.

3^rd place: Matthew Craner, Scott Deshane, Madison Gilchrist, Joe Matishak and Graeme Wyatt of F.R. Haythorne Junior High in Sherwood Park, Alberta, with a video titled “The Phone Number Test”. They win a $150 gift card.

We also recognized seven teachers for their enthusiastic participation in the contest. They were:

• Crystal Getschel, of F.R. Haythorne Junior High in Sherwood Park, Alberta, with 26 entries.
• Majed Mattar, of Osgoode Township High School in Metcalfe, Ontario, with 21 entries.
• Professor Kaduri, of Tanenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto, Ontario, with 15 entries.
• Grant Holmes, of École secondaire publique De La Salle, Ottawa, Ontario, with 11 entries.
• Carol Shaw, of Woodstock Collegiate Institute, Woodstock, Ontario, with 8 entries.
• Kevin Shae, of Sir Robert Borden High School, Ottawa, Ontario with 6 entries.
• Stephen Willcock, of Canterbury High School, Ottawa, Ontario, with 5 entries.

Each teacher will receive a $250 gift certificate at Indigo Books and Music to use for personal use or for the school they represent.

The videos will be posted as soon as possible to our youth site. They will also be available on our YouTube channel.

We were thrilled with the number and quality of submissions we received for our second competition. We’ll be launching the 2010 contest in May!

Not that long ago, nothing was more personal than a woman’s purse. Although it’s hard to imagine what the big secret is, very few women like to reveal the contents of their purse. However, over the years, this essential woman’s accessory seems to have lost its top spot on the most personal list. What has beaten it out for first place? The cell phone. Our cell phones often contain photos, appointments, direct access to our email, revealing text messages, our contact list – and that doesn’t even include the various applications that we are downloading in greater numbers. All this information is quite a bit more sensitive than a few receipts and old lipsticks at the bottom of a purse!

Lending someone your cell phone requires careful consideration! You have to mentally go through its contents and decide whether there is anything too personal for outside eyes. Cell phones are now a sort of Diary 2.0.

The same could be said for our personal computers. So-called “family” computers – really, a box in the corner of the room — are becoming increasingly rare, being replaced by laptops, where individual ownership is more pronounced. Often, our computers are an open book on our lifestyles.

Today, the mere thought of spending a day without our cell phone or computer gives us the willies. This confirms that these devices are now a part of us; they contain all sorts of information that connect us to our families and our network of friends: they complete us as individuals. They are communication tools that we use to share our every thought, and because they are always within reach, they allow us to seize every moment. But we are also supplying these two electronic devices with personal information that becomes a public and permanent record of the moments of our life.

We are all entitled to some secrets, but storing them in a purse or cell phone makes them easily available for others to uncover. Set your own boundaries and think about the content you download. Segment access with permissions, passwords and encryption. It’s more than just a simple click; it’s your privacy.

The deadline for our 2009 My Privacy & Me National Video Competition has passed. This year’s contest was a huge success. Does privacy matter to you? We think so! We received over 100 submissions from all across Canada!
 
Because of the growing popularity of the contest, we have decided to present awards in four different categories (as opposed to last year where we had the students judge all videos together in one category). The categories this year are: live action; animation; French video; and junior (for entrants who are between 12 and 14 years of age).
 
Once again, we will be hosting an event with the students at Encounters with Canada to pick the winners. This event will be happening in early March. More participation also means more prizes. How exciting is that?! There will be first, second and third-place prizes in each category!
 
Thank you for your participation and thanks to all the teachers who encouraged their students to participate and provided them with the support they needed to create awesome videos.

Plan ahead – if you are interested in participating in the contest, and have something to say about personal privacy, we will be launching our 2010 contest in the spring!
 
Stay tuned in following weeks to watch the winning videos from our 2009 contest.

Do you have toys and gadgets on your wish list this holiday? A stuffed toy or a cell phone or camera? Chances are you do because these days these toys and gadgets are more than they used to be. Just a few years ago a stuffed animal was something to cuddle with and a phone was, well, just a phone! Now, many stuffed animals come with codes that allow you to register them online so you can play games, feed and care for them, and even chat and play with other kids. And many cell phones are phones, computers and cameras, all in one.

And while such toys and gadgets can be fun, we want you to enjoy them without putting your privacy and personal information at risk.

Here are our tips for protecting your privacy as you enjoy your new gadgets and toys:

Think before you click – The Internet is a public arena, and photos and comments you post are permanent. Even if you delete them from a web page, they could continue to exist in archived pages, in your computer’s cache or on the computers of other Internet users who may have copied them. If you don’t want certain people to see something, now or in the future, don’t post it!

Pick and protect the perfect password – Your information is only as safe as your passwords. Use different passwords for different systems; make sure they are strong (eight characters or more and a variety of letters or numbers); never share them with anybody; and change them regularly.

Know your friends – Online, you can’t be 100 per cent sure who you are talking to. Don’t accept friend requests from people you don’t know in real life.

Protect your identity – Identity theft is a growing problem and the Internet is the least private of spaces. Don’t post or e-mail personal details such as your social insurance number, phone number, home address or birth date.

Be careful on online gaming sites – Online gaming sites are hotbeds of people accessing personal information. Be aware that ill-intentioned people can use information from your profile to establish accounts in your name, or use your stolen identity to access your existing accounts.

Be wary of e-mail or instant messages from unknown people – Don’t open online messages that seem odd or are from someone you don’t know. They could contain a virus or let a hacker gain access to your computer.

Have a happy holiday and enjoy all your new toys!

We’re not talking about the number of days left until Christmas, but the deadline for the 2nd edition of the My Privacy and Me National Video Contest.

There’s only one week left! We are really looking forward to receiving your videos. You never cease to surprise us with the high-quality content of your public service announcements, and your creativity and diversity.

Reminder

-Deadline: December 11, 2009
-Public service announcement on privacy protection aimed at youth
-Length: 60–120 seconds
-Recording or animation
-Prizes to be won!

You can send us your entry online at video@priv.gc.ca, or submit it by mail, burned onto a DVD. Don’t forget to also submit your entry form. If you are sending it by mail, mail your entry to:

My Privacy and Me
c/o Office of the Privacy Commissioner
112 Kent St.
Ottawa, Ontario  K1A 1H3

Visit the mycontest section of our Web site for more information.

Don’t wait, get rolling!

Today is National Child Day – also the 20^th anniversary of the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention of the Rights of the Child and made privacy a basic human right for everyone under the age of eighteen.

This means that privacy is your right. And with today’s world being so different than it was 20 years ago, this is something you may not think much about. Today, you are videotaped by security cameras almost everywhere you go. You are asked for your postal code or driver’s license when you buy a pair of jeans. You can instant message, update your status, download music, talk to friends on Facebook and play games on your computer with people all around the world. Twenty years ago if someone wanted to get in touch with you they had to phone you or send you a postcard!

Today, it is so easy to forget about privacy and why it’s important. And it’s easy to forget about the risks that are out there if you don’t protect your personal information. These risks can range from nuisance (all those marketers who are looking for people to target their ads to) to serious (from the people on the Internet who are looking for identities to steal, to the predators looking for victims). It’s also easy to forget that when you post comments, photos and videos, online, that information is public and permanent and almost impossible to remove.

So today, on National Child Day, we wanted to remind you that privacy is your right. And today is your day. So take some time to look around youthprivacy.ca. Click through the pages and find out how you can have fun online while protecting this valuable basic human right.

Our Commissioner, Jennifer Stoddart is worried that maybe you don’t. After conducting an investigation into Facebook’s privacy policies, we’re now turning our attention to you as the school year gets underway. Because while you may be savvy about using social media, many of you still may not know how to create a secure online identity.

If you’re listening to the radio today you may hear a message from our office that we created especially for you. In case you miss it, we’ve provided clips from it for you here. The gist of it is that many young people are still jeopardizing their safety, and possibly compromising their futures, by sharing photos and information – some of it inappropriate – with people they don’t know… people who may not be who they say they are.

You need to always be aware that the personal information that you post online could be used in a variety of shady ways, from embarrassing you, to stealing your identity – even for finding out where you live, go to school, or your plans for the weekend. Our radio message urges young people (and their parents and teachers) to regularly visit youthprivacy.ca for information on safely using the Internet and social networking sites.

The message also reminds everyone that we’re inviting all young people, between the ages of 12 and 18, to participate in our second annual video contest. Create a one- to two-minute public service announcement on the importance of privacy by Friday, December 11th and you could win some really cool prizes!

As part of the Internet Generation, you get it when we discuss social networking sites, blogging, online shopping – often you know more about these things than many of the older people around you! But if you can teach us about new technologies, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada can teach you the importance of protecting your identity in all spheres of life and about the realities of identity theft.

As mentioned in the “Identity Theft and You” section of our main website, “There’s no widespread agreement on the meaning of identity theft,” but the term is used for “everything from cheque forgery and the use of stolen credit cards to sophisticated scams in which an impostor adopts somebody else’s identity to gain access to their assets.” We often associate identity theft with IT geniuses hacking into computer networks – this is sometimes the case and we shouldn’t turn a blind eye to technological development and its close connection to the emergence of new techniques for exploiting personal information. However, identity theft transcends the virtual world, and it often hits much closer to home.
 
Before addressing the profile of “identity thieves” it would be interesting to see if you are a person at risk. Just answer the following simple questions which will reveal a lot about your habits:
 
1)  Do you carry your Social Insurance Number in your wallet?
2)  Do you throw your balance statements and receipts in the garbage?
3)  Have you revealed your PIN code to your friends?
4)  Do you choose passwords that are common and easy to guess?
 
If you responded “yes” to any of these questions you are in danger of being the victim of identity theft.

Next, for a profile of an “identity thief”, we can refer to Benoît Dupont and Guillaume Louis’s second report (“Identity thieves: a common delinquency profile”) from the Université de Montréal’s Canada Research Chair in Security, Identity and Technology. The report states that an alarming 1.7 million Canadians were affected by identity theft in 2008.

They authors also produced a profile of an identity thief that is more frightening than the virtual profiles we tend to associate with these kind of crimes. They found that while more than 45% of cases of identity theft involve Internet use (mostly to commit fraud) the majority of the identity thieves don’t use the cyberspace to acquire information. Instead, they found that many of these criminals are “ordinary individuals”:

•  40% of offenders are women – this may be attributed to the absence of violence inherent to this sort of crime and the possibility of committing the crime without help from an accomplice.
•  The average age is 33 years.
•  64.6% of the offenders acted alone in the majority of cases.

And the approach these identity thieves take to committing theft is as ordinary as the thief’s profile. It’s a far cry from hacking into computer networks: instead, 53.4% of incidents involve the theft of wallets and purses, and fraud.

It turns out that many people choose to steal identities, simply because it’s easy! According to the research, identity theft is attractive because of the low risk involved and the ease of carrying on this activity. Identity theft has one of the fastest growing crime rates seen in recent years1.

As a result, an increasing number of measures are being taken to give you the tools you need to prevent identity theft, but in reality, day-to-day vigilance is necessary above all else.

Here are some Web sites you can visit to get more information on fraud prevention methods and identity theft:

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada – Read the information compiled for individuals such as Identity theft and you.

The Consumer Measures Committee has a great information sheet for you about Identity Theft. You’ll find a quiz that will help you understand if you’re putting yourself at risk for identity theft, as well as information about what to do if you think your identity has been stolen, how to protect yourself when shopping on the Internet and more.

Privacytown – Privacytown is your online guide to protect your privacy and personal information in the age of electronic commerce and new information technologies.

1. Finklea, Kristin M. (2009). Identity theft: Trends and Issues. Congressional Research Service: Washington DC.