"Kate Crawford of the MIT Centre for Civic Media goes behind the numbers to debunk five myths about big data."

"Ever wondered how students really act online? What they're actually sharing with their friends? Heck, if they're even using their real name and other information? Chances are good about 1 of every 4 teens seem to have a 'fake' social media account with false information. There's a lot more to this new privacy study on what teens actually share by the Pew Research Center that you should check out too."

"Schoolchildren are at risk of having their online activity tracked and monitored for targeted advertising by internet firms through free cloud based education services. A survey has found that many parents do not know about data mining - the process of tracking email and web browsing habits in order to target advertising - but once they do they have grave concerns for their kids' online privacy, and believe schools need to do more to protect it. The survey commissioned by American IT industry group SafeGov asked 1000 Australian parents about their knowledge of data mining."

"We now live in a world where the topics of technology and privacy seem to work hand-in-hand. Gone are the days of buying a brand new TV or video game console where concerns of surveillance never existed. Now, our smart phones and tablets can act as TVs while tracking our location via GPS or wi-fi. The new batch of consoles set to come out later this year are both going to come with high definition cameras, with one of them confirmed to be active 24/7. Not only that, but now people are concerned about other possible emerging technologies such as facial recognition and thumbprint scanning. But are these fears warranted? Or are we simply becoming too paranoid and suspicious of companies and the technology they hand us?"

"The most time-consuming part of evaluating web tools for educational use has got to be looking at the Terms of Service (also know as Terms of Use or Terms and Conditions). They can go on for pages, and are so often wrapped up in so much legalese that even if you manage to read to the end, there is no guarantee you will be any wiser. And yet we can't just ignore them; it is our duty as educators and as digital citizens to protect rights and understand responsibilities online."

"Have you ever Googled yourself ? Have you ever checked your virtual identity? Do you know that you leave a digital footprint every time you get online? Do you know that whatever you do online is accumulated into a digital dossier traceable by others ? These and several other similar questions are but the emerging tip of the sinking iceberg.One that is packed full of concerns related to issues of our online identity and privacy issues."

"This is a facilitated course that will run for 7 weeks (March 25 - May 12, 2013). Sign-up for this course closed on March 21. Current participants appear in the 'People' tab. If you weren't able to enroll in the course for this cycle, send us a message and we'll be sure you're notified for the next cycle of the course!"

Some advice from Duck, Duck Go on how to restrict tracking that can occur when browsing the web.

"Typing your own name into Google may be an eye-opening experience. Even if your personal information isn't easily accessible, your computer may be sharing information about habits, preferences and activities that you'd prefer to keep private. Here's how to keep a lid on what your computer shares about you with strangers."

Whether you like it or not, your internet activities are being monitored every time you log online. In this infographic you can learn more about who's tracking who....

"This website is funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. The Safe Schools Toolkit explores the detailed characteristics of the National Safe Schools Framework, providing case studies and an online audit tool to pinpoint the areas of priority."

"Journey into the world of contemporary online social interaction."

A guide to staying safe and secure online from Google Explore quick tips and how-to's that explain what you can do to stay safe and secure on the web. Get advice from parents at Google and family safety experts on how to help your family safely surf the web. Learn how Google helps protect you.

A great introduction to your digital footprint

"We often hear complaints about what students say and do online, but we often neglect to look into educators helping them manage their online reputation. This infographic is geared toward adults, but it can serve as a great starting point for conversations and activities that educators can engage in with students to help them to establish an active digital footprint that represents who they want to be perceived as online."

"Respect each other online You can use phones, tablets and computers to do awesome stuff. But things can turn nasty if you use them to disrespect each other. Treat each other with respect and Keep It Tame." This site has links to a range of support services and comes from http://www.youngandwellcrc.org.au/ 

"Fear comes in many forms, and on Halloween things get creepier and crawlier than usual. But for some of us, the scariest thing of all has nothing to do with snakes and spiders - and everything to do with cybersecurity. Lax attitudes towards online accounts have led to major digital break-ins for years, which is why content security software Trend Micro realized we should all be a little bit more scared of password protection and less scared of heights and elevators. The company found that one in four of us use the same password, or a variation, for all our accounts. One in four people in the U.S. also don't bother to back up files."

"Forget birds and bees -- today's kids learn about sex from porn, pop lyrics and Facebook."

"In a recent post I described how Social Media is About Nodes and Connections and explained "the importance [of] the network effect, with a growth in the number of nodes (the bloggers, the contributors, the Twitter users) leading to a growth in the number of connections (the posts, the comments, the tweets, the retweets) which help in the development of new insights and new ideas". But whilst many users of social media, including those working in higher education, are making use of such network effects to support their professional activities in legitimate and ethical ways others are seeking to exploit network effects in ways which may be considered unethical."

"Michael Fraser calls it the ''rubbish web''. That is the internet we will be left with in five to 10 years unless governments and cyber corporations fix the holes that allow criminals to infiltrate the world wide web and strip global citizens of their identity, money and dignity, he believes. In his bleak view, those who can afford it will retreat behind private corporatised security walls."