May 24, 2013

CourseSmart to Analyze Etextbook Reading Habits

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CourseSmart, the world’s largest provider of digital course materials, has announced a pilot test of CourseSmart Analytics, a program that will evaluate how students use specific textbooks, measuring page views, total time spent reading, as well as notes and highlights made. In aggregate, the data will allow professors, course designers, and academic administrators to assess the effectiveness of digital titles. Faculty will also have access to the etextbook reading habits of specific students enrolled in their courses.

New COPPA Proposals Raise Concern Over Kids’ Privacy

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New rules proposed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) designed to protect minors in the digital age are leaving some concerned that its intentions could do more harm than good.

Update: ALA Asks Librarians To Oppose Cybersecurity Bill

This article has been updated to include information about the Amash amendment and the fate of the bill. Just because SOPA and PIPA seem to be dead in the water doesn’t mean legislative attempts to limit privacy are over. H.R. 3523, The Cybersecurity Information Sharing and Protection Act of 2011 (CISPA), passed the House of [...]

Boston PL Limits Kids from Opening Online Accounts, Citing COPPA

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Even though the law doesn’t prohibit children under 13 from opening a library account online, Boston Public Library’s alleged efforts to stay on the safe side of COPPA made “her heart sink,” says researcher danah boyd.

Link: Privacy advocates want Facebook probed on recent changes

he group’s complaints about Facebook’s adoption of frictionless sharing for some applications and the start of Timeline, an updated profile that makes a user’s entire history on the site easily viewable at once, reveal a fundamental divide on the nature of sharing data online.