This, not to mention it seems somewhat unproductive to lock off 99% of the internet because of information collection instead of teaching how to defeat those collectors. The kid's going to grow up and leave eventually and will have to contend with the full internet, it doesn't feel like a good idea to leave them without any experience of the kind of things you can run in to.
Kids don't get any "experience" contending with surveillance. It is all done behind your back, on purpose. Results are never deleted.
Certainly schools are not even attempting to teach countermeasures.
They tend to dabble in the "be aware of bullying and self-esteem" issues, but are completely outmatched in the security arena. Ignore at your peril.
- What else can be inferred about you from seemingly innocuous information, and potential misuse
- Durability of your digital footprint
- Security, file types, etc.
Education doesn't fix these issues, though. Even well-educated developers would often give up and click 'Allow' on a modal privilege escalation box that pops up repeatedly in research. And if I need to get something done and it doesn't work I'm pretty quick to re-enable scripts and tracking.
Knowing these thing exist is a great first step, and glad to hear you are helping out.
But, it doesn't become a concrete, visceral thing until you inspect a no-script menu while browsing a news site. Or run Little Snitch on a freshly unboxed Mac. Or going to a "white pages" site and see the last four addresses of your family members. Salary info, current whereabouts, criminal history, are a fee away.
Yes, but the whole world won't be developers. And many in the know just don't care.
You're talking about a population of 12 to 18 year olds. Even among the most responsible and least-easily influenced of them, social pressures absolutely dwarf any abstract concerns about corporations knowing a bit more about broke-ass you to try and sell you things.
Most of this population will take a short term gain for an uncertain consequence a few minutes later. You're talking about short term gain versus consequences that they may view as inevitable and occurring decades away.
I can only affect my kingdom, what others do is mostly not my concern. Reminds me of the corporate garbage “food” products most people consume. I speak out but not going to steal their doritos.
These are exactly the population that should be protected. If you wanted to give them agency, which I support, let them manage their own whitelists instead of throwing up hands in defeat.
The future is already here, trends are not reversing:
