Learning Journal # 10

I have been reading up on a lot of information on Facebook and the NSA conducting on tracking on people. The Norm Friesen, stated Facebook learns from the user. What Facebook learns of course is what advertising to sell to the user.

What really interested me was the reasoning why Facebook does not include a Dislike button. Friesen explains that companies would not want to sponsor Facebook if there was a potential for negative “disliking.” If other users saw people thumbing down companies products, companies could face significant losses. So instead of having any competition, users have the ability to Like brands or to feel neutral. There is no option for users to give a negative input.

Friesen stated that Google is similar with their GMAIL clients and Google searches. Friesen says that “Google’s priority is to make money.” This statement scares me because of how big Google is getting with their computers, phones, and cars.

I watched a video the other day of a recent interview with Edward Snowden, in the video he explains how the NSA is tracking Americans. The host, John Oliver said that the NSA can look at our private data and keep it forever. Snowden, confirmed this and explained that NSA can track us and those who have contacted us.

Snowden then used Google as an example how they store their data overseas. This means that our data is transferred around and has the potential to be intercepted by other organizations.

As an educator, I feel that I need to be careful with the tools that I use in the classroom. Google has a ton of useful tools that are great for the classroom. However, using these tools for sensitive data may not be a wise choice.

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