AI Data Collection and Privacy
Personal data that apps and AI services may collect; why companies use it; cookies and tracking; smart-speaker activation; checking permissions, storage and deletion controls with an adult
What a learner can do afterwards
- Name at least three types of personal data that AI systems collect
- Explain why personal data is valuable to companies
- Describe one step they can take to protect their privacy online
1 · Read
You have learned that apps can use viewing patterns to suggest videos. Apps and websites may collect other information too. What they collect depends on the service, your actions and its settings. A notice may not appear each time information is collected.
Personal data is information about you. It can include your name, location, searches, watched videos, photos, contacts or voice recordings. A service does not need your name to learn something about you. Saved searches, for example, can provide clues about your interests.
Patterns in chosen stories or videos can help an app suggest similar ones. Choices are clues, not proof of lasting favorites. Companies may also use data to improve services or choose advertisements. Advertisers pay to reach people they hope will be interested, so interest data can be valuable. Cookies are small pieces of browser data. Some remember useful settings; others help track activity.
Many smart speakers check nearby sound for a wake word while their microphones are on. This does not mean every sound is uploaded. An activated request may send a recording of its words to a company. Accidental activation can happen too. Whether recordings are kept depends on the device and settings. Ask an adult to check these with you.
With a parent or guardian, check why an app wants camera, contacts or location access. Deny access it does not need. Keep passwords private and ask before sharing personal information. A privacy policy explains how a service handles data. Blocking a permission limits access through that permission; it does not erase saved data or stop every other kind of collection. Check separate deletion controls with an adult.
Services may collect personal data for different reasons. Check permissions and privacy settings with an adult. Limiting access does not erase past data.
These five readings were written for this dataset. Their hypothetical app and device examples explain data collection and privacy choices.
More to read
Remembering a browser choice
Suppose you choose larger text on a website. When you open its next page, the site remembers. A cookie is a small piece of browser data that can help with this kind of memory. Cookies can also help keep an account signed in.
Some cookies help recognize a browser's activity. An outside service appearing on several websites may use cookies to connect visits, depending on browser controls. Those visits can provide advertising clues.
Ask an adult to help inspect cookie settings. Blocking or clearing cookies can change how a site works or sign you out. It does not erase records already stored by a company. Cookies are also not the only way services collect information. A cookie control changes part of the picture, not every possible kind of tracking.
The clues in a search
One search about model boats might be for a school project, a gift or a hobby. The search provides a clue, not a complete account of a person's interests. Several related searches can provide more clues.
A search service may save queries alongside an account or other information. Services differ in what they save, how long they keep it and how they use it. A history list on a screen need not show every record the company holds.
With an adult, check the service's privacy information. Ask whether a history control stops saving new activity, removes a visible list or requests deletion of stored records. These effects are different. Changing one setting does not by itself establish that all earlier searches have disappeared.
Follow the device's data
A sensor reading can stay on a device. Imagine a thermostat using room temperature to decide whether heating is needed. Taking a reading does not automatically mean sending it to a company.
Some devices send information to online services. A smart speaker may detect a wake word on the device, then send an activated request for processing. Accidental activation can happen too. Recording storage depends on the product and its settings.
Check a device with an adult by asking separate questions. What does it sense? What leaves it? What gets saved? Who can access the saved information? The word 'smart' does not answer these questions. Look at the manufacturer's information about the particular device instead of assuming every sensor uploads every reading.
What job needs this permission?
Imagine a drawing app asking to read your contacts. Drawing a picture does not need your friends' contact details. You and a parent can deny that request.
Now imagine choosing a feature that takes a photo to add to the drawing. That feature may need camera access. Match the request to the job you chose. Needing one permission does not justify access to everything on the device.
Permissions do not describe every source of data. A service can also receive what you type, upload or do within it. Read its privacy information with an adult before sharing more. Ask what the feature needs and whether another choice would share less.
What changed when you tapped?
An activity list disappears after someone taps a privacy control. What can we conclude? The list is no longer visible. That observation alone does not show that every company record was deleted.
Different controls do different jobs. One may limit future access through a permission. Another may disconnect activity from an account. A deletion control may cover specified stored records. Older data can remain when a setting changes only future activity.
Ask a parent or guardian to read the control's explanation with you. Check what information it covers and what effect it promises. Menu names can change, so use the service's current instructions. Keep passwords private while asking for help.
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.