Data Privacy, Ethics and Society · Request · Mine · Forget · Week 8
Week 8 worksheet
You fill in and submit the Word document, not this page. Use this page for help: click any ? to see what a question or column is asking.
- Download the document and open it in Word, Google Docs, or Pages. The answer boxes and table rows grow as you type.
- Fill it in as we go, in order. Predictions are the last section.
- Upload it to Canvas twice: to “Request · Mine · Forget: Week 8, Part 2 (Predictions)” with the predictions done, and to “Request · Mine · Forget: Week 8, Part 1 (Worksheet)” with everything complete. Due dates are in Canvas.
Request · Mine · Forget · Week 8
Week 8 worksheet
Fill this in as we go, in order. Predictions (section 4) come last, after you've chosen your targets and before you file anything. Upload this file to Canvas twice: to “Request · Mine · Forget: Week 8, Part 2 (Predictions)” with section 4 done, and to “Request · Mine · Forget: Week 8, Part 1 (Worksheet)” with everything complete. Due dates are in Canvas.
1 · The inference hunt
1 · The inference hunt
Open what a platform has inferred about you: Google My Ad Center, Meta ad preferences, or your LinkedIn data. Sort each inference into one of the three columns and write counts only, one row per platform. You won't be asked what the inferences are.
Open what a platform has inferred about you (ad interests, categories, audiences). Write counts only; you won't be asked to share what you find.
Platform
PlatformThe service you checked, e.g. Google, Meta, LinkedIn. |
I told them this
I told them thisHow many inferences match something you knowingly gave them: a profile field, a stated interest, something you searched for or bought. |
True, but I never said it
True, but I never said itHow many are correct but you never told them. This is this week's idea: a fact produced about you, not collected from you. |
Wrong
WrongHow many are false. A wrong inference is still attached to you, and still used. |
|---|---|---|---|
2 · The plan we build together
2 · The plan we build together
The class designs the research plan together, one question at a time. Write down what the class agrees on. It becomes the standard every lab notebook is held to, and your targets in section 3 follow it.
Fill in each box as the class agrees on it. Your targets follow these rules.
2a · How we choose targets
2a · How we choose targets
The criteria the class agrees on for picking targets, and any rules about covering the whole class list.
2b · The order we do things in, and why
2b · The order we do things in, and why
The sequence of steps from first request to final check, and the reason the order matters.
2c · What we log for every target (the fields)
2c · What we log for every target (the fields)
Every field the class decides to record for each request. Your lab notebook uses exactly these fields.
What do we have to record to prove, in Week 12, whether a company honored the law? What counts as the cost of using a right?
2d · How we keep our data safe
2d · How we keep our data safe
The rules the class agrees on for storing and handling the data you get back.
2e · What we'll look for when the data arrives
2e · What we'll look for when the data arrives
The questions you'll ask of your data once it comes back.
3 · My targets
3 · My targets
Your 10 organizations, chosen from the class list on the board using the rules in 2a.
From the class list, using the rules in 2a: 10 organizations, including at least one you've never had an account with and at least one that requires paper.
Organization
OrganizationThe company or agency, as specifically as you can: “Equifax,” not “credit bureaus.” |
Why this one
Why this oneWhat makes it worth your effort: it holds a lot about you, it connects to a course week, you've never had an account with it, or it requires paper. |
Legal right (if any)
Legal right (if any)Which law, if any, gives you a right to make this request. We work this out together in class. “None” is a valid answer, and a finding. |
Channel
ChannelHow this organization makes you submit the request: Online, Email, Paper mail, Fax, or Phone. At least one of yours must be Paper mail or Fax. |
Filed (date)
Filed (date)The date you sent the request. Leave it blank until you file. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
4 · Predictions
4 · Predictions
Write these last, on your own, after you've chosen your 10 targets and before you file any request. Upload this document to Canvas to “Request · Mine · Forget: Week 8, Part 2 (Predictions)”; the timestamp proves your predictions came before any results. In Week 12 you score yourself against what happened, graded on honesty, not on whether you were right.
Which of your 10 targets will be the hardest to get data from, and why?
Name one organization from your list in section 3 and say why you expect trouble: a slow response, heavy identity checks, a paper-only process, or no legal obligation to answer at all.
What do you expect to find that will bother you most?
Describe the kind of thing, not the details: for example, “an inference about my health,” not the inference itself. You'll compare this with what you actually find in Week 12.
How many of your 10 targets will answer within the legal deadline? How many will confirm a deletion?
Give numbers, e.g. “6 of 10 answer within 45 days; 2 of 5 deletions confirmed.” Concrete numbers make your Week 12 self-score honest.
Anything else you expect to happen (optional).
Any other prediction you want on the record before results arrive: a company you expect to surprise you, a fact you expect to be missing, how much time this will take you.