Exercises: Privacy

Explain the difference between a public profile and a private profile on a social network and name two advantages of keeping personal accounts private.

When installing a torch app, it requests access to your contacts and location. Explain why this request is suspicious, what privacy principle it violates by asking for more data than it needs, and what you would do.

The figure shows the privacy settings panel of a social network.

Three settings are already configured and one appears undecided. Explain whether you consider the chosen options suitable for a minor and what option you would recommend for the setting marked with ?, justifying your answer.

The figure shows the locations that a person's cell phone GPS recorded over a week.

Deduce what place the point marked with ? is and explain what other details that map reveals about the person's life (schedules, relationships, habits). Finish by explaining why location is one of the most sensitive pieces of data handled by your phone.

When entering a website, a cookie banner appears with the buttons "Accept all" and "Settings". Explain what types of cookies exist (necessary, preference, ad tracking) and what you are accepting with each button.

Your younger brother uses your tablet while you are logged in and ends up buying a skin and talking to your friends. Explain what data and accounts of yours are exposed when sharing a device and what configuration (user profiles, lock screen, password-protected store) prevents this.

Explain in your own words what end-to-end encryption is in a messaging app and what it means that "not even the company itself can read your messages". What is the difference with a service that does store and can read conversations?

In your account settings, a list of "apps with access" appears. Explain what an app connected to your account can do, why it is advisable to revoke those you no longer use, and how often you would review that list.

Your class group has a chat where photos of everyone are shared. Explain what you should keep in mind before uploading a photo featuring someone else and how this relates to the right to one's own image.

A free photo editing app states in its terms and conditions that it may use the images you upload "for commercial purposes". Analyse the deal you are accepting (what you give and what you receive) and formulate two questions worth asking yourself before accepting the terms of any free service.

List three specific privacy settings you would review on your main social network — for example, who sees your posts, who can tag you or who can find you by your phone number — and explain what each of them improves.

A social network asks for a photo of your ID card "to verify your account and protect you". Analyse when this might be a legitimate request, what risks handing over an identity document entails and what you would check before sending it.

In Mexico, for certain online services, the law requires parental consent before fourteen years of age. Explain why this age limit exists, what happens to the data of a minor who lies about their date of birth when signing up, and why platforms ask for your age.

Compare the actual privacy of three channels: a private message on a social network, a class group of forty people and a public channel. Explain who can see each one, who can forward it and what type of content should not travel through any of the three.

A smart speaker "only listens when activated". Explain what is actually recorded on these devices, where the recordings are stored, what privacy settings review you would perform at home and in which rooms you would never place one.

Explain what "incognito mode" in a browser hides and does not hide (your internet service provider, the websites you visit, your school, local history) and reason why its name misleads many users.

Having just turned 14, you request an online gaming platform to permanently delete your account and all your associated personal data. The company responds with this message:

"We have processed your request: your profile is no longer visible to other users. However, for permanent deletion from our servers, you must pay 5.00 pesos in processing fees and attach an authorization signed by your legal guardians sent by post. In addition, we will retain your forum messages and your purchase history indefinitely for security purposes."

Analyze the situation by applying data protection regulations (GDPR and Spanish law):

1. Identify and justify at least two legal irregularities present in the platform's response.

2. Draft the formal reply you would send to the company to demand the effective exercise of your right to erasure without undue hindrance, indicating the legal deadline they have to comply with it and which official body you will file a complaint with if they do not.

Some people maintain separate online identities depending on the context: a personal account, another for gaming, another intended for their professional future. Analyse the advantages and risks of separating identities and propose criteria to decide what information goes into each one.

A shop offers a $10\ \%$ discount if you provide your email address and date of birth, and agree to receive "marketing communications". Evaluate that exchange using the data minimisation principle and write a reasoned decision: accept as is, negotiate the data you provide, or reject the offer.

Write a clear-English privacy policy for your school app, written so that a fourteen-year-old can understand it: what data it requests, for what exact purpose, how long it stores it, with whom it shares it, and how to exercise the rights of access and erasure.

Analyse the phrase "if it's free, you're the product". Is it always true? Compare the business models of advertising, subscriptions and open-source software with donations, and explain how the chosen model affects how your data is treated.

A school installs cameras in the corridors and an app that tracks the school bus in real time. Weigh up the security they provide against student privacy and formulate three conditions (information for families, proportionality, data retention limits) that should be met.

Parental control apps allow parents to see their children's location, screen time and messages. Analyse where the balance lies between protection and trust depending on age, and propose a reasonable family agreement for a fourteen-year-old.

In mental health or anti-bullying support forums, many people participate under a pseudonym. Analyse what anonymity protects in these spaces, what abuses it allows, and which model you would defend — total anonymity, persistent pseudonym or real name — giving nuances.