Terms & Conditions May Apply exposes what corporations and the government are
learning about you with every website you visit, phone call you make, or app you download,
with stories of surveillance so unbelievable they’re almost funny. As privacy and civil liberties
are eroded with every click, this timely documentary leaves you wondering: if your private
information is for sale to the highest bidder, who’s doing the bidding? Read: Terms of Service; Didn't Read - Look for anything surprising. Quotes from the film “Transparency, which bonds us together and gives us all so
many friends that we didn’t know before… gives the state an
absolutely unparalleled, in the history of humanity, ability to
know what’s going on with its citizens. To find out who the
dissenters are.” - Daniel Ellsberg “We need to find a way forward to make sure that we
can stop terrorists while protecting privacy and liberty of
innocent Americans. We have to find a way to give the
president the power he needs to protect us while making sure
that he doesn’t abuse that power.” - Barack Obama “If you were to read everything you agreed to, it would take
one full month of work out of every year. That’s 180 hours
you would need to spend every year.” - Cullen Hoback “Even though we don’t write cheques to Google, and that’s
why we kind of like the company, that doesn’t mean that
Google is really free or that we are free in the liberty sense
when we use it.” - Siva Vaidhyanathan “Anonymity wasn’t profitable.” - Cullen Hoback “We should be worried.” - Senator Ellen Corbett Watch this clip: “You Agreed to the Following” Activity: Consider a time in recent history
when you agreed to Terms and
Conditions (e.g., joining a new
website, downloading a new app,
buying a plane ticket, etc.). If you can
recall what or when that was, go back
and read the Terms and Conditions, and time yourself while you do it. Discussion Questions • How long did it take you? • How do you feel about what you just read? Why? • How will this information affect you when agreeing to Terms and Conditions in the future? Watch this clip: “Your Phone Company Shares Everything” Activity: Browse your phone’s content—text
messages, apps, even consider what’s
been said during your phone calls. Discussion Questions: • Is there any activity you conduct on
your phone that you wouldn’t want shared with the government? Why or why not? • Is there any activity you conduct on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram that you wouldn’t
want shared with the government? Why or why not? • In the film, Austrian law student Max Schrems shows us how Facebook retains all
of our information, even after we delete our accounts. In essence, we delete them
from ourselves. Does this revelation affect the way you will use Facebook in the future?
If so, how? Watch this clip: “Everyone is a Suspect” Activity: Browse your network’s tweets, Facebook
posts, or other public comments that
have been made online in the past day. Discussion Questions: • Can you identify anything that might
be used against you or your friends? How so? • Leigh Bryan was detained by the Department of Homeland Security for tweeting to
a friend, “Free this week for quick gossip/prep before I go and destroy America? x.”
Do you think DHS was justified in its action? Why or why not? Have you ever tweeted
or Facebooked something that could be interpreted as a threat? • A common argument by people who are supportive of or indifferent to surveillance is that
they have “nothing to hide.” How do the stories of people in the film like Vito LaPinta,
Joe Lipari, Leigh Bryan, and other protestors challenge this reasoning? Your task will be to write a 1.5-2 page double spaced personal response to ONE of the following statements. Spelling and grammar do count, please proofread your work before submission. Respond to one of the following idea statements
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