Author(s): 

Britt Beatte, Texas A&M University Commerce

Martín Guerra-West, Texas A&M University Commerce

Stormy Montes Texas A&M University Commerce 

Charles Woods, Texas A&M University Commerce

Introduction

“How can and have historically marginalized groups leveraged writing to enact systemic change? How have calls for global human rights played out locally?” These were the questions posed to graduate students in the course description for the initial installment of “Writing Democracy,” at Texas A&M University Commerce (TAMUC). Highlights from “Writing Democracy” include our weekly discussions of teaching writing in Texas today, a Speaker Series featuring leading scholars in the field, the chance to choose course readings democratically, and the opportunity to publish public-facing scholarship together.

The timing of this first installment of “Writing Democracy” was critical. In February, as we talked about teaching writing today, it was on the heels of Governor Abbott’s Texas Tik Tok Ban which restricted access to the social media platform for TAMUC students using university-provided internet. In March, as we discussed different ways of engaging our future students with concepts like democracy and demagoguery, the most recent former President of the United States was indicted. In April, as we were working through news literacy, media literacy, and the Fourth Estate, Fox News settled their lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems and Tucker Carlson was ousted.

We interrogated writing and democracy through a variety of lenses, including privacy. We engaged with legislation and news articles related to privacy and surveillance, like the Bill of Rights, the California Consumer Privacy Act, and “Facebook Scrutinized Over Its Role In 2016’s Presidential Election” from NPR. We read selections from, Living in Data: A Citizen’s Guide to a Better Information Future by Jer Thorp. We thought through data rights as human rights (United Nations International Human Rights Charter) and how the right to privacy should be a principle for citizens of sovereign nations because it is essential for other rights (Universal Declaration of Human Rights; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights). 

In the remainder of this blog post, the cohort of graduate students from the “Writing Democracy” course at TAMUC present a cluster of resources for instructors who want to introduce privacy and democracy in the classroom. We envision all these resources as support for instructors and administrators interested in democracy, privacy, and justice and hope they are implemented into course designs. First, Martín Guerra-West presents an innovative approach discussing privacy and social media with students via course ideas centered around the Facebook privacy policy.. Then, readers will engage with the a digital resource Stormy Montes produced which triangulates immigration, privacy, and digital literacy in a way which amplifies the importance of creating these resources in our local context in Texas. Lastly, Britt Beatte presents a guide to surveillance in the writing center, a critical resource for those who want to engage on what data is collected there and how it is used. 

Finally, we invite you to listen to our collaborative “Writing Democracy” Spotify playlist as you read through the rest of the blog post: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6rbKBPmmmjOX4OszHABORr?si=9471827b93374bd8

Improving Facebook Privacy Course Ideas

Martín Guerra-West

Objective(s)

To assess more deeply the Meta (Facebook, Instagram) privacy policy and to consider the steps users can take to limit data collection and use. 

Discussion Questions

Instructors can adopt or revise the following discussion questions for their classroom: 

• How many of you have a Facebook or Instagram account?
• How many of you have read Facebook’s (Meta’s) privacy policy?
• What kind of information do you think Facebook collects about you?
• What do you think Facebook does with this information?
• What is the “deal” we’ve made with Facebook? In other words, why is Facebook “free” for us to use?

Video Resources

Instructors can adopt or revise the following video resources for their classroom:

Data Facebook Collects Video Resource: “Here’s How Facebook Tracks You (+ how you can protect your data)”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu5yAff7xPI.

Concepts Covered

• Explicit Data: things we voluntarily post or like, such as photos, tags, check-ins, and where we attend school
• Metadata: kind of camera, date, time, GPS coordinates, file size, time etc. Also includes IP address(es).
• Off-Facebook Activity: all additional websites users click on, especially if there is a relationship with Meta
• Third-Party data: Meta collects this data from third-party retailers and from services across sectors
• Deleting the Facebook app on your phone will prevent Meta from collecting your data via that device. You can still access Facebook on a computer using a web browser. If you don’t want to delete the app, you can change the settings on an iPhone and turn off “Allow Tracking.”
• Manage your Off-Facebook Activity settings to break the connection between Facebook and any activity you do on other websites. 

Facebook Privacy Settings Video Resource: “How to Change Your Facebook Privacy Settings ( a step-by-step tutorial)”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBdFF2Bm5jg.

Concepts Covered

• Limiting Past Posts
• Limiting Future Posts
• Default Settings
• Public vs. Friends Only
• Friend Requests
• Search Engines
• Facial Recognition Technology
• Off-Facebook Activity
• Ad preferences
• Location Services

Summary

Facebook will continue to collect data on your activity, but making changes will limit what Meta can collect and what information the public can see. To limit even more, avoid “checking in” to places, avoid surveys, avoid FB games, and avoid those facial recognition apps. Remove “location” data from photos before uploading them to FB. To avoid FB tracking you on other websites, delete the FB app from your phone and access Facebook using Firefox web browser instead. Add the ”Facebook Container” add-on extension. To conclude, instructors might have students go back to their Facebook profile page and view the information the public can see. It should be far less than before. 

Immigration, Digital Literacy, and Privacy

Stormy Montes

[Embed Stormy’s Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/11r0Xk2aVqUzSGgaC8sbDpXECNoc-nmjf/view?usp=sharing]

Privacy in the Writing Center

Britt Beatte

In their article “Good to Know? Confidentiality and Privacy in Writing Centers and Libraries,” Molly Parsons,  Elizabeth Dolinger and Katherine E. Tirabassi create a heuristic to guide  Writing Center practice on collecting  information. “Writing centers prioritize the individual–from our concerns about ownership, to our emphasis on writer agency and discussions of linguistic and racial hegemony” (Parsons, Dolinger, and Tirabassi). When students come into the Writing Center for help, they are often stressed  about personal situations, courses, or particular professors, and it is natural for them to vent these frustrations to their peer tutors. While prioritizing our writers aligns with peer tutoring practice, we have to ensure that in the process of doing so, we do not unwittingly put their privacy at risk. 

Begin with these steps to guide your Writing Center through protecting writer privacy. Establish the difference between what information is “solicited,” “shared,” and “stored” in your writing center. What kind of questions are your tutors asking their writers? Do you share information between tutors? Between administration and tutors? Where does that information go? Is any of it stored in a website? Who has access to that information? This directs us to consider these values as priority at all times when soliciting, sharing, and storing personal information. 

• Respect for Individual: Respect for the autonomy of the  writer and tutor must be upheld  during any potential soliciting, sharing or storing of data.
• Socially Constructed Learning: What is useful most to harboring  a healthy learning environment must be considered behind all  questions.
• Social Responsibility: Upholding the values of your writing center is done through social practices. 
• Institutional Welfare: Consider what is best for your  writing center’s continued success

Additionally, Parsons, Dolinger, and Tirabassi invite us to keep questions like these in mind when you’re deciding what/when/where your tutors will solicit, share, and store information: 

• How might the writer benefit from (or be harmed by) requests  for personal information?
• How could the writer benefit from (or be harmed by) the storage/sharing of personal information outside the tutorial?
• How might sharing  personal information outside the  tutoring interaction advance (or undermine) learning goals (for  tutor or writer)?
• How might soliciting, sharing, or storing a writer’s  personal information benefit (or  harm) the wider institution, community, or world?
• How might sharing and/or  storing personal information serve (or undermine) institutional priorities?= 

Furthermore, Parson, Dolinger, and Tirabassi suggest writing center staff can begin internalizing these issues concerning privacy and surveillance during training:

• ask tutors if they’ve  had encounters with a writer where personal information was revealed
• ask them to consider these questions in relation to their incident
• work together to determine if and how that information is appropriate to share or store 
• as a team, consider the current  databases you keep your writer’s  information in and check into its  privacy policy together

References

Article 12. “United Nations International Human Rights Charter.” United Nations.  https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights#:~:text=No%20one%20shall%20be%20subjected%20to%20arbitrary%20interference%20with%20his,against%20such%20interference%20or%20attacks.

Article 17. “International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.” United Nations. https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-civil-and-political-rights#:~:text=No%20one%20shall%20be%20subjected%20to%20arbitrary%20or%20unlawful%20interference,against%20such%20interference%20or%20attacks.

All Things Secured. (September 1, 2021). “Here’s How FACEBOOK TRACKS YOU (+how you can protect your data).” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu5yAff7xPI

All Things Secured. (July 13, 2020). “How To Change Your Facebook Privacy Settings (a step-by-step tutorial).” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBdFF2Bm5jg

California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018. 

Folkenflik, David. (2017, September 26). “Facebook Scrutinized Over Its Role In 2016’s Presidential Election.” NPR.  https://www.npr.org/2017/09/26/553661942/facebook-scrutinized-over-its-role-in-2016s-presidential-election#:~:text=Transcript-,Facebook%20is%20in%20the%20spotlight%20for%20its%20role%20in%20the,in%20last%20year%27s%20presidential%20election.

Parsons, Molly, Elizabeth Dolinger,  and Katherine E. Tirabassi. “Good to Know? Confidentiality and Privacy in Writing Centers and Libraries.” WLN: A Journal of Writing Center Scholarship, vol. 45,  no. 9-10, 2021, pp.  10-17.

Thorp, Jer. (2021). Living in Data: A Citizen’s Guide to a Better Information Future. MCD Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.