Privacy Archives — SMM Headquarters

TPL Social Media Privacy: Feb 3, 2020 [Photos]

Katya R — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 17:03:00 +0000

On February 3, 2020, I visited the Northern District branch of the Toronto Public Library to discuss privacy settings, friend lists, tag reviews and more exciting Facebook and Instagram stuff.

The participants had varying knowledge of the platforms, so it was a worthy challenge to balance everyone’s understanding with what I had prepared for the evening. Answering many thoughtful questions about privacy and making Facebook work for everyone was my favourite part of the night!

My next workshop is happening at the Yorkville branch on May 28, 2020.

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Who’s Watching You? 🕵️

Katya R — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 20:55:35 +0000

Today, January 28, is a global Data Privacy Day. The perfect opportunity to reflect on the recent news and the role marketing professionals have to play in the upcoming privacy battle.

Take a look at just some of the headlines:

The stream of exposés just keeps on coming. It has never felt, ahem, better to live in a technological dystopia where privacy has increasingly become an empty word.

As a consumer, you should certainly pay attention to data practices of the companies whose products you use daily, be it Amazon, Google or Facebook. It is no longer a question of if sensitive private information about yourself is being used by third-parties online. It is a question of how much. And what to do about it all.

So what now?

You can take lots of small steps to protect yourself (a blog post on just that is coming). You can quit Facebook and stop using Google products, although, in practice, that's already too much for a lot of people. This also doesn't solve the issue of the retention of the accumulated data. It is ultimately up to the companies themselves to change their practices and be better. (The lean data movement is an example of how.)

Why address this in a marketing-first blog space? Because a lot of the unhinged data collection going on today fuels the multi-million-dollar advertising and marketing industry. It has never been easier to target and reach the precise kind of consumer you want to reach online, and we as marketers are all complicit in wanting this unprecedented access without thinking twice about paying for it.

I believe we should accept some responsibility, educate ourselves and our clients, and take steps to be more conscientious about what we use and what we share. The online surveillance economy model comes at too big of a cost, and we have a part to play in dismantling it. Because, sadly, we learned to rely on it too.

The article was originally published in the January 2020 SMMHQ newsletter. Subscribe.

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Social Media Privacy Workshop — Toronto, February 3, 2020

Katya R — Fri, 06 Dec 2019 19:36:45 +0000

On February 3, 2020, I will be at the Toronto Public Library, the Northern District branch, delivering my first educational workshop focused on social media privacy.

The subject of the workshop wasn’t chosen by accident. Privacy in the digital space is an increasing concern of mine. The workshop will focus on account access levels and privacy settings individual users can control, but I take the most issue with how data is handled by the platforms themselves.

Action against Facebook abuses has to start with an understanding of the urgent importance of privacy at all levels! So this workshop is an exciting opportunity to teach what I know and love. I am stoked to see who attends and how I can help them to feel more in control of their data on Facebook and Instagram.

Details of the workshop are here. The event is open to all, with no registration required. Shoot me an email if you’ve got questions!

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