https://www.linkedin.com/in/d%C3%B3nal-de-br%C3%BAn-a0a960a8/

My LinkedIn profile provides potential employers with information regarding my studies and work experience. This builds on my online portfolio as this is something that employers will look to when I apply for jobs. I have provided information regarding skills I have acquired as well. My primary concern was focusing on the course I am currently undertaking, Scríobh agus Cumarsáid na Gaeilge, as well as prior experiences with Irish Language media, as I am aiming for employment in this field. There is more information that I could add to this end and will do so in due course.

I chose to reinvent Pinterest’s privacy policy based on Beeban Kidron’s 5rights and my own personal preferences (Anderson, 2017). I wanted to ensure that there was no way for the site to collect or share data without its users allowing it to do so and to allow users to monitor what was being collected and shared. The key idea here was choice and consent. I decided to do away completely with “recommendations”. Although seemingly harmless, recommendations require the site to monitor its users’ activity. It is also a way to keep users on the site. I liked much of Pinterest’s existing Privacy Policy and used its user friendly format and left elements of it unchanged. I also included their entire policy under the subtitle “Residents of the EEA” as I thought this may be a legal requirement.

Anderson, J. (January 6th 2017). A Lawyer Rewrote Instagram’s Privacy Policy So Kids and Parents Can Have a Meaningful Talk About Privacy, Quartz. Retrieved April 24^th, 2020 from  https://qz.com/878790/a-lawyer-rewrote-instagrams-terms-of-service-for-kids-now-you-can-understand-all-of-the-private-data-you-and-your-teen-are-giving-up-to-social-media/

Summary of changes

We have made changes to the data we collect and how we use that data, putting the user in control of what is public and what is kept private.

Thank you for using Pinterest!

As a sign of our appreciation for our many users worldwide, we have decided to update our privacy policy. We are giving our users the decision to allow their data to be collected, meaning that they may receive ads and other content based on their interests. Or the choice to keep your data private, while you may still receive ads (this is how we build revenue), they will not be based on any data that we have collected. We will only ever use your information where we have a proper legal basis and your permission.

We only ever collect information when you give us permission

As we understand that many of our users use Pinterest to promote their businesses, we are giving you the option to share contact details. Private users have the option to keep all of their details including their name, email address, phone number, photos and Pins private. While we require some of these details when you sign up, they will be kept private unless you choose to share them. You can change this at any time by changing your Privacy Settings.

We will not collect data to make recommendations on the site. However, as we want to connect you to the things you love, we have updated our search function so that you can find exactly what you are looking for. If you aren’t quite sure what you are looking for and would like to receive recommendations, you can give us some keywords, or a picture and we will make recommendations based on this.

We may collect data to improve our site. However, this will only be done with your permission. You will be asked for your permission when you sign up and you can change this at any time by changing your Privacy Settings.

We are interested in keeping our users safe. We will also work with law enforcement and keep Pinterest safe. We may get requests for account information from law enforcement, for example, the police or courts. To find out more about how we respond to law enforcement requests, please see our Law Enforcement Guidelines. If we have reason to believe that a user is using Pinterest for criminal gain or to abuse other users, we may then monitor their activity including their messages.

Choices you have about your info

You can change your information at any time. You can also change the information that you make public and what you keep private at any time. You have the choice to see what information is public and how that could be shared.

You have the choice to delete your account at any time. We will retain your details for seven days to allow you to change your mind and come back. This information will be deleted after seven days. At no point will this information be shared with any third parties.

You also have choices available to you through the device or software you use to access Pinterest. For example:

The browser you use lets you control cookies or other types of local data storage.

Your mobile device lets you choose how and whether your precise location, photos, contacts and other data are shared with us.

To learn more about these choices, please see the information provided by your device or software provider.

Only you can share your information

We will only ever share the data of users that have allowed us to so.

This may include third party sites specialising in analytics to help us improve our site. It may include sites such as Facebook or Twitter if you choose to publish your content on Pinterest through them. To learn more about third-party companies that analyses performance, or third party companies that we are partnered with please visit our Help Centre.

We will only share information if we believe that disclosure is reasonably necessary to comply with a law, regulation or legal request; to protect the safety, rights or property of the public, any person or Pinterest; or to detect, prevent or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues.

If we were to engage in a merger, acquisition, bankruptcy, dissolution, reorganisation, or similar transaction or proceeding that involves the transfer of the information described in this Policy, we will ask you permission to share your information with a party involved in such a process (for example, a potential purchaser).

How long we keep your information

We will only keep you information as long as you allow us to do so. If you decide to leave Pinterest, we will not keep your information under any circumstances.

Our policy on children’s information

Children under 13 are not allowed to use Pinterest. If you are a parent and you learn that your child is using Pinterest and you don’t want them to, please contact us.

Your options

You will always have access to the information that we have about you. To exercise these options, please visit your account settings and, if you still need help, our Help Centre.

You may request access to the information we have about you. We’ll usually share on request through our Help Centre.

You may have your information corrected or deleted. You can update your information on your profile or delete your data by closing your account.

You may request more details about the information we collect and how and why we use and share it.

We will not discriminate against you if you choose to exercise your options related to your personal information.

We work to be clear with you about your options and the consequences of exercising certain options. If you have questions, please contact us.

Residents of the EEA

If you have any questions about our data processing activities, the data controller you should contact is Pinterest Europe Ltd., an Irish company with its registered office at Palmerston House, 2nd Floor, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, Ireland. You can also contact our Data Protection Officer.

If you think that we haven’t complied with data protection laws, you have a right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission in Ireland or with your local supervisory authority.

We also want to share some more details about how we may transfer personal data of EEA residents:

Pinterest complies with the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use and retention of personal information transferred from the European Union to the United States. Pinterest has certified to the Department of Commerce that it adheres to the Privacy Shield Principles. If there is any conflict between the terms in this privacy policy and the Privacy Shield Principles, the Privacy Shield Principles shall govern. To learn more about the Privacy Shield programme, and to view our certification, please visit the Privacy Shield website.

For all transfers of your information from the European Countries to the US, Pinterest is certified under Privacy Shield and follows its principles. To view a list of Privacy Shield participants, please visit the Privacy Shield website.

Where we share information we receive under Privacy Shield with third parties, we’re responsible for making sure that those third parties also comply with Privacy Shield, unless we can prove we’re not responsible for the damaging event.

In compliance with the Privacy Shield Principles, Pinterest commits to resolve complaints about our collection or use of your personal information. EEA individuals with enquiries or complaints regarding our Privacy Shield policy should first contact us here. Pinterest has further committed to refer unresolved Privacy Shield complaints to JAMS Arbitration and Mediation Services, an alternative dispute resolution provider located in the United States. If you do not receive timely acknowledgment of your complaint from us, or if we have not addressed your complaint to your satisfaction, please contact or visit the JAMS website for more information or to file a complaint. The services of JAMS are provided at no cost to you. In certain circumstances, and if the dispute resolution process still doesn’t resolve the problem, EEA individuals may pursue binding arbitration through a process on the Privacy Shield website. Pinterest is also subject to the investigatory and enforcement powers of the Federal Trade Commission.

Where we transfer information from the EEA to a country that doesn’t provide an adequate level of protection, we’ll only do so under appropriate safeguards put in place to protect your information, such as standard contractual clauses or Privacy Shield certification.

How we make changes to this policy

We may change this policy from time to time. If we do, we’ll post any changes on this page. We will always inform you when changes have been made and offer to change the information you provide or delete your account if you wish.

Exchanging information through social media is something that we take for granted. As Yung-Chun Chang et al. assert “Nowadays, the ubiquitous Internet serves as a dominant channel for information diffusion. Popular social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as online commerce company Amazon, enable users to express their opinions toward a variety of products and services” (Chang, Ku, Chen, 2017). Not only is visualising information through social media useful to businesses, it is useful to students like myself, or perspective students as highlighted by Doug Ridley (Ridley). While I was confident in my ability to use Google Image search, it is interesting to consider that searching UCD in Google Image search is most likely the first step in many new students’ journey to the university, as mentioned by one of my peers on Bongo. This exercise has made me more aware of my own processes in gathering information online, something that I do all the time without considering. I found the presentation side of this digital badge to be more difficult. While a lack of audio is not a particular drawback to a short video on how to conduct a Google Image search, a longer or more complex instructional video would suffer from a lack of narrative. This is something I would like to get more practice with, as presenting information in this format, if executed correctly, is really effective.

Works Cited:

Chang, Y. C, Ku, C. H and Chen, C. H. (November 14^th 2017). Social media analytics: Extracting and visualizing Hilton hotel ratings and reviews from TripAdvisor. [Electronic version] International Journal of Information Management, 48, 263-279.

Ridley, Doug. (n.d.) How Today’s Colleges and Universities are Using Social Media. Vital. Retrieved March 27^th, 2020 from https://vtldesign.com/digital-marketing/social-media/how-todays-colleges-and-universities-are-using-social-media/

Guidry et all highlight that “Pinterest, with its visual focus, lends itself to the use of narratives” (Guidry et all, 2015). While their study focused on Pinterest, they rightly noted that the same could be said about most social media platforms. Therefore, it is extremely important that as social media users, we understand how to manage the information that we not only see but also post. Understanding the interface we are using is key, while recommendations based on our activity can be useful, they also present a danger of creating an echo chamber, reinforcing the wrong kinds of information. As Sree Sreenivasan notes “The best way to ensure success is to think carefully before you post, and constantly evaluate what you are posting and your overall online activities” (Sreenivasan). Not only should we be careful of what we post but what we consume and choose to pass on too. Social media should be used responsibly and with greater critical thinking than one might imagine. This being said, when used correctly, social media is a great to tool to gather information and share information with like-minded individuals. 

Guidry J.P.D., Carlyle K., Messner M., Jin Y. (22nd September 2015). On Pins and Needles: How Vaccines are Portrayed on Pinterest. [Electronic Version] Vaccine. 33 (39), 5051-5056.

Sreenivasan, S. (n.d) How to Use Social Media in Your Career. New York Times, Business. Retrieved 28th February, 2020 from https://www.nytimes.com/guides/business/social-media-for-career-and-business 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-6JBGD5RO_5KaCuk-3EnBiAJXk696Zz2&usp=sharing

As I had mentioned in my previous post regarding blogging as a realisation of Habermas’ public sphere, I have found the peer reviews to be the actualisation of this democratised exchange of thoughts and ideas. I found it helpful to verbalise my thoughts so far concerning what I have learned and through considering what others outlined as both strengths and weaknesses regarding their own learning. With this exercise I found myself considering my learning in a different light. I look forward to using this forum as a means of reflection with future assignments.

John Naughton contends that blogging is the realisation of Jürgen Habermas’ public sphere “his idealised conception of a forum for democratic debate”, as Naughton succinctly explains (Naughton, 2019). Blogging allows us to express our own personal thoughts, opinions and feelings. The act of blogging can function much like the writing of a column for a newspaper or a personal diary entry, however, feedback on your writing becomes much more immediate. Importantly, anyone can do it. This democratises ideas and allows for intelligent and thoughtful interaction between like-minded individuals just as Habermas had envisioned. While blogging is certainly a great platform for sharing ideas and engaging with others, it can also be a great tool for reflection. As Linor L. Hadar and Oren Ergas note “We can in fact engage differently with ourselves, through mindful attention, while interacting with technology and transform this into a practice of cultivating more aware social engagements” (Hadar, Ergas, 2018). In the aid of mindfulness, this function of blogging can be particularly useful to students who can use the platform to verbalise their thoughts or feelings concerning particular stresses and engage with one another online. Blogging is a multi-functioning tool that could particularly be to the benefit of students like myself if properly utilised.

Citations:

Hadar, L. L. and Ergas, Oren. (January 9th 2018). Cultivating mindfulness through technology in higher education: a Buberian perspective. SpringLink. Retrieved February 14th, 2020, from https://link-springer-com.ucd.idm.oclc.org/article/10.1007%2Fs00146-018-0794-z

Naughton, J. (October 12th 2019). Happy 25th year, blogging. You’ve grown up, but social media is still having a brawl. The Guardian. Retrieved February 14th, 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/12/blogging-twenty-five-years-old-all-grown-up