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Common Core State Standard
SL.CCS.1/2/3/4 Grades 6-12: An essay of a current news event is provided for discussion to encourage participation, but also inspire the use of evidence to support logical claims using the main ideas of the article. Students must analyze background information provided about a current event within the news, draw out the main ideas and key details, and review different opinions on the issue. Then, students should present their own claims using facts and analysis for support. FOR THE WEEK OF JUNE 18, 2007 Online privacy gets new test from Google cameras![]() ![]() Newspaper photos of sports events, street scenes, parks and public gatherings may show people who didn’t expect media attention. Invite class members to find an example and discuss what privacy expectations – if any – are reasonable in public places.
![]() Plenty of evidence online, in newspapers and on TV confirms that many people aren’t shy. Ask students to list ways that this newspaper lets readers be heard, seen and identified by name.
![]() Professional journalists follow ethical guidelines to protect privacy. Challenge the class to give examples of sensitive situations that are reported without identifying some people involved. Besides names, what may be omitted to respect privacy and avoid possible harm?
Internet users are abuzz about Google's new Street View feature on maps for five urban areas, which have 360-degree panoramic photos of addresses that include walkers, sunbathers, bikers, boarders, bladers and others who happen to be recorded by unmarked vans in New York, San Francisco, Denver, Miami and Las Vegas. Though street-level scenes generally are on public property, critics say posting them online could embarrass people leaving a strip club, Alcoholic Anonymous meeting, reproductive health clinic or controversial political event. “Google spies on America,” the online magazine Slate headlined its report. Outcries over street-cams come on top of wider concerns about shielding personal information online. For instance, Google for years has stored every Web search and analyzes Gmail topics so it can show related ads to users. It recently bought DoubleClick, an online ad agency that tracks surfing behavior across different client sites. “The combination could give Google an unprecedented ability to profile Web users and their preferences,” warns a New York Times editorial. It worries about a database that includes “sensitive information, like what diseases users have or what political causes they support.” As these developments show, online privacy may be what’s called an oxymoron (OX-see-MORE-on) – which means a phrase with an internal contradiction. Some young job-seekers learn that painful lesson when background checks by employers turn up indiscreet MySpace or Facebook profiles and snapshots.
Front Page Talking Points is written by
Felix Grabowski and Alan Stamm for NIEonline.com, Copyright 2024
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