This week in data: spying, lying and being human.

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"Human", being human, breach, Colorado, Colorado Hb1423, Congress, data, data collection, data privacy, data tracking, Dataminr, Ethics, Facebook, FTC, Garnett, Global Education Futures Initiative, Google, Lundeen, Microsoft, morals, Privacy, privacy bills, surveillance, Twitter

Missouri Education Watchdog by Cheri Kiesecker

NO this isn’t everything that happened in data, not even close. When you start paying attention, you see that data breaches are happening daily , internet outages, cables cut, privacy bills passing, privacy bills getting killed or weakened by the very industry taking the data, internet as a human right, tremendous expansion of online education and blended learning, lawsuits, who’s spying on who…it’s everywhere and it’s enough to make your head spin. So, today, I write on just a few of the data stories of this week. You will want to read- They are big stories. Click on the links to read the full stories. Be sure to read the last one from Microsoft on being human.

 

Twitter -Dataminr have been providing U.S. intelligence agencies with data

[T]he chilly relationship between government bodies and private tech businesses is growing frostier by the day. In the latest development, it has emerged that Twitter requested one of its key B2B partners, Dataminr — a service that offers advanced social media analytics and early detection of major events like terrorist attacks or natural disasters — stop providing U.S. intelligence agencies with their tools and content.

But Dataminr isn’t ending its relationship with the government altogether: Dataminir still counts In-Q-Tel, the non-profit investment arm of the CIA, as an investor. Dataminr has taken investment from Twitter, too, highlighting some of the conflicts that remain as tech companies fight for more transparency and autonomy from government control. Interestingly, the agencies who are at the center of today’s news were using Dataminr in an unpaid pilot, TechCrunch understands. That pilot, which was coming to an end, could not be continued as a paid deal because of pre-existing Twitter policies that forbid selling data for use in government surveillance. The news of Dataminr cutting off intelligence groups was first reported by the WSJ, and we have confirmed the details directly with sources.

What exactly is Dataminr? The company uses Twitter firehose data — the unfiltered, full stream of Tweets from Twitter’s 300m+ users — along with other primary sources,

[…]

Continue Reading — This week in data: spying, lying and being human.

An Article on Personal Behavioral Tracking You Wish was from The Onion. Employees are *Nudged* to Acceptable Behavior.

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Cass Sunstein, Cavoukian, Common Core, data collection, data tracking, Education, The Business Roundtable

 

Missouri Education Watchdog by Gretchen Logue

 

Will tracking of workers’ office behaviors in a Canadian consulting firm be coming to your workplace? From How new data-collection technology might change office culture:

“Imagine a tiny microphone embedded in the ID badge dangling from the lanyard around your neck.

The mic is gauging the tone of your voice and how frequently you are contributing in meetings. Hidden accelerometers measure your body language and track how often you push away from your desk.

At the end of each day, the badge will have collected roughly four gigabytes worth of data about your office behaviour.

Think this is far-fetched? Well, last winter employees at the consulting firm Deloitte in St. John’s used these very badges, which are being touted as the next frontier in office innovation.”

What is the reason for this data tracking?

“The information from the badges, which were created by the Boston-based company Humanyze, was gathered anonymously, and workers were given personalized dashboards that benchmarked their performance against that of the group.

“The minute that you get the report that you’re not speaking enough and that you don’t show leadership, immediately, the next day, you change your behaviour,” says Silvia Gonzalez-Zamora, an analytics leader at Deloitte, who steered the Newfoundland pilot.

“It’s powerful to see how people want to display better behaviours or the behaviours that you’re moving them towards.”

Cass Sunstein and The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary must be proud that adults and not just children are being nudged to become the leaders businesses require[…]

Continue Reading — An Article on Personal Behavioral Tracking You Wish was from The Onion. Employees are *Nudged* to Acceptable Behavior.

The Broken Chain of Student Data Security

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data collection

Photo: Herman Pinera, Flickr, (CC BY-SA 2.0)

 

Missouri Education Watchdog by Anne Gassel

2015 was not a good year for student data privacy. Massive exposure on three levels has shown that no one is truly capable of protecting the data they gather on American students.

Federal Student Data At Serious Risk

At a House hearing on Oversight and Government Reform held on 11-17-15, Inspector General Kathleen Tighe testified that the US Department of Education’s “data security” system is riddled with vulnerabilities. The problems encompass both lax controls over the people allowed access to sensitive data, as well as outdated technology and inadequate security to prevent unauthorized access….

Click Here To Read The Rest of: The Broken Chain of Student Data Security

1.5 million current and former student SSNs at risk says MO Auditor

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Constitutional violation, data collection, DESE, Educational Institutions, fourth amendment violation, Missouri, MOSIS

Missouri Education Watchdog by Anne Gassel

A recently released cyber audit of DESE’s student data system (MOSIS) revealed several weaknesses that MO State Auditor Galloway said placed 1.5 million current and former students’ personal information, such as social security numbers, at cyber risk.

The report noted that the state has “no business reason” for collecting social security numbers. Galloway takes a strong position on data security. In a statement to KCUR she said, “We need to be proactive to be sure to limit the collection of that data if it’s not necessary and then be proactive in protecting it to make sure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.” This is exactly what SB530 (Onder – Dist 2), filed but never passed out of the Senate Education Committee last year, attempted to do […]

Click Here To Read The Rest of: 1.5 million current and former student SSNs at risk says MO Auditor

 

LINK:

http://missourieducationwatchdog.com/1-5-million-current-and-former-student-ssns-at-risk-says-mo-auditor/

Political Data is Everywhere — But What Does It All Mean?

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Barack Obama, data collection, Data mining, Invasion of Privacy, Politics, Presidential Election 2016, Social Media

 

I suspect that I am not the only voter who sensed that Americans were manipulated these past election cycles into electing candidates that gave the appearance of being in touch with voters only to witness a sharp pivot away from the interest of voters by elected officials to do the bidding of lobbyists.

How did this happen and what are the odds of history repeating itself? You decide.

Both parties have contracted the tech industry to mine and collect data from our cell phones, credit cards, discount cards, social media down to the Google Play Apps we download, a major invasion of privacy intended to control the message and for the purpose of manipulating bamboozling manipulating voters.

The Intercept, by Farai Chideya

…In 2012 the two major parties spent about $13 million on data mining (while the individual campaigns spent untold millions more), with larger outlays predicted this time around. And while we can’t opt out of being a part of political data any more than most people can opt out of having a credit score, we can be aware of how we’re being measured; how our social media behavior and contacts are being used; and how to pay attention to our own interests in a world rife with political messaging. “The more people understand how people are being marketed to through their stuff is important,” says Frank Pasquale, a University of Maryland law professor….

Continue Reading – Political Data is Everywhere — But What Does It All Mean?

Be afraid, America. Be very afraid.

 

Images courtesy of Flickr – Creative Commons License.

LINK:
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/07/17/political-data-mining-2016-election/