Join Us for Data Privacy Week
Civics of Technology Announcements
Curriculum Crowdsourcing: One of the most popular activities in our Curriculum is our Critical Tech Quote Activity because the lessons offers a quick way to introduce a range of critical perspectives to students. We have decided to create a Critical AI Quote Activity and we want your help. Please share your favorite quotes about AI with the author and source via our Contact page. We will collect them, write the lesson, and share when it is ready!
Next Tech Talk: Please join us for our next Tech Talk where we meet to discuss whatever critical tech issues are on people’s minds. It’s a great way to connect, learn from colleagues, and get energized about the work. Our next Tech Talk will be held on Thursday, January 8th at 12:00 PM Eastern Time. Register here or visit our Events page.
Latest Book Review: Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It, by Cory Doctorow, 2025.
Dear Civics of Technology Community:
We are very excited to host our first Data Privacy Webinars during the 2026 Data Privacy Week. Webinars will be held on January 28 and 29 from 6:00-7:30 p.m. EST.
About Data Privacy Week
According to the National Cybersecurity Alliance, Data Privacy Week is an international effort to empower individuals and businesses to respect privacy, safeguard data, and enable trust. Each Data Privacy Week usually has a theme and occurs during the last week of January. The goal of Data Privacy Week is to spread awareness about online privacy. The Alliance’s goal is twofold: “we want to help citizens understand that they have the power to manage their data and we want to help organizations understand why it is important that they respect their users’ data.”
For more information, visit last year’s Data Privacy Page: Data Privacy Week - National Cybersecurity Alliance
About the Sessions
Sessions on January 28 and 29 will focus on aspects of data privacy: such content would be appropriate for students and faculty/staff alike.
On Day 1: What does privacy mean in a human society where technologies and corporations are designed to extract, share, and monetize data without public understanding or will? Who benefits, who pays the price, and who decides? Led by two public higher education librarians who spend their days working towards making systems work for the common good, this two-part session will examine how design choices, power structures, and economic interests shape the development and adoption of software and systems. Together, these sessions will encourage reflection on whether commercialized, extractive platform-based technologies are capable of advancing the public good, and highlight the necessity of privacy, consent, and public will in system design and integration.
On Day 2: Privacy is, as the American Library Association, asserts, “the bedrock to intellectual freedom.” The right to read, research, and write in an environment free of surveillance is important to the process of creating new knowledge, and creative endeavors. Yet, protecting your digital privacy is no easy feat, especially as increasingly the systems we use to read, research, and write are digital mediated. Whether that is reading on a digital device, using digital databases or online search engines to find resources, or sharing your research and writing via social media--- navigating today’s information landscape requires a security mindset.
This digital privacy literacy workshop will focus on proactive and reactive strategies individuals and collectives can take to better protect privacy. We will provide some baseline information and knowledge to help participants understand how the internet works. We will provide strategies for identifying potential risks to privacy, security, and anonymity encountered day to day while conducting personal or academic tasks digitally. The workshop will also touch on topics such data brokerage, artificial intelligence, algorithms, and virtual private networks.
Join Us!
To register for the webinars, please visit the following links:
Visit our Privacy Event Page to learn more about the speakers and submit questions you might have for them.
If you have any questions, email Dr. Morgan Banville at mbanville@maritime.edu.