Ethics Class of a different kind
As part of the ethics lessons, Mr Wittmann from the Police Headquarters in Dresden visited us (grade 7/1) on November 6, 2015. He informed us about social networks, instant messaging and copyright laws. Mr Wittmann made sure the lesson was interesting and easy to follow.
We learned, for instance, what the instant messaging application WhatsApp can do with our data without making themselves liable to persecution. We all accepted the terms and conditions and therefore allowed WhatsApp to copy and sell our contacts. If you didn't know that, it should be no surprise; the terms and conditions are only available in English and have never been translated into any other language. We would never give away private information about ourselves, our families, friends to a stranger that easily. An example: in the morning at the baker’s, the shop assistant requests the customers’ telephone numbers and their last three text messages in order to “improve their service.” All the customers are shocked; they would never give that kind of information to someone they didn’t know. Compare this scenario with the internet and instant messaging services that we use to send personal information across half the globe on a daily basis. The video from Denmark concerning the bakery, which is available online to view, reflects this absurdity. Another flaw of WhatsApp is the fact that you are being monitored by your chat partner, for example by read-receipts. As soon as the small blue check mark appears next to one's text, the sender knows that you have read the message. This puts the reader under pressure, because he may not want to reply immediately, but also senses that the sender is waiting impatiently. There are providers that don’t offer such services and which collect no or little data from their customers. Examples include the German messenger service Hoccer and the Swiss Threema. So how about a class chat on Hoccer?
According to a study, more than half of all Facebook users are unhappy with the social network's treatment of their data; yet in spite of this, they are all still registered. This is indeed a curious phenomenon, as one can delete or suspend one's account at any time. Of course, Facebook and other such services advertise that one can send messages for free. Who can resist such a temptation? Should it not give us pause, why exactly these services are so cheap? What happens to your data? Indeed, through the sale of your data, the service provider actually earns much more money than through the potential sale of memberships or subscriptions. And as one can also send images over these services, copyright law also comes into play. Here we must likewise be careful. Who has not taken a picture with someone and shown it to one's friends without the agreement of the person photographed?
Even these seemingly harmless actions can be illegal, explained Herr Wittmann. So we could avoid such situations, Herr Wittmann patiently answered our questions- this half hour really flew by! By the end, we all felt smarter and polished off. In my view, it would be expedient to hold such informational events regularly in schools to both educate students and enlighten parents. Or perhaps even an entire class might be taught on the theme of digital media, data protection, and cyber-bullying. Think about it!
Leonie Schlenkrich 7/1