Digital Footprints, Privacy, and Security: I Know What You Did Last Summer!

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) standards address the need for students to develop strong technology literacy skills due to the evolving role of technology in the global society. Therefore, educators must “Model and promote management of personal data and digital identity and protect student data privacy” (ISTE Standards for Education, 2017, para. 3).

With the recent revelations of the breaches involving social media applications, concerns regarding digital footprints, privacy, and security have evolved for both educators and their students. As distance education expands, educators frequently use applications to engage students. This usage generates digital footprints, which are like physical footprints rendered unique to their owners (Dennen, 2015).

Before generating digital footprints, users should be aware of privacy policies to protect personal information and how it is used (McDermott, 2018). These conditions are usually presented as written terms of agreement followed by a box to check/submit if giving consent. Security involves how companies protect information users agree to share, so when something is hacked both security and privacy are compromised. Therefore, evaluation of popular educational apps must become a priority for educators and several tools are available from school boards, universities, special interest groups, and state/ federal government agencies.

Panelists in this roundtable will share the concepts of active digital footprints, passive digital footprints, privacy, and security; then participants will be given the opportunity to actively discuss their concerns. Panelists will also share tools for evaluating apps, and participants will be able to evaluate apps of their choice. By developing a greater understanding of the most frequently used apps in education, educators can venture higher in technology integration!