Home
Eyes & Spies: How You’re Tracked & Why You Should Know
Eyes & Spies: How You're Tracked & Why You Should Know by Tanya Lloyd Kyi (Annick $14.95)
You didn't plan your route to tonight's party; you know Google Maps will get you there. You found your dress at Le Chateau's Cyber Monday sale, and browsed tall boots on the Hudson Bay's website before scoring a great used pair on Craigslist. At the market, you swiped your Air Miles card for the crackers you're bringing.
You're ready to rock.
Congratulations. You just gave away a fistful of personal information. For the next month, your browser will be inundated with ads for dresses and boots, and the customized Air Miles coupons are in the mail.
Big data, digital tattoos and the ever-growing encroachment of the wired world on our personal privacy are the subjects for Tanya Lloyd Kyi's Eyes & Spies: How You're Tracked and Why You Should Know.
Although it's written for kids in the 12-14 age range, every adult should get this book, read it five times, and then read it aloud to every child in their life throughout the duration of each meal, shower and toothbrushing session until the message sinks in.
Every time you hit like or agree, swipe a loyalty card or hell, even click on a link, you're sending out tiny bits of information about yourself that companies and governments can then use to map your preferences, habits and beliefs.
Sound a little paranoid? It did to Kyi, too, until she learned more about how data mining works. Her Eyes & Spies reveals how we've so blithely wandered into the yawning maw of the Zero Privacy Lifestyle, drawn by the siren songs of technological innovation.
Kyi spells out how targeted marketing works, how increased security measures affect us all, which governments are in possession of what kind of tracking software and how we have brought much of this on ourselves with our naïve trust in the companies and platforms that make our lives easier.
"It's so easy to just keep clicking "agree"; and to not even think about what you're giving away,"; says Kyi.
Kyi also examines how our world has greatly changed in recent years, especially in terms of the extent to which children have free range from home (concentrically smaller circles with each passing generation) and the extent to which we monitor their movements.
Eyes & Spies is written in straightforward language with heaps of real-world examples of privacy invasions-such as tracking mechanisms on kids' backpacks and shoes to ensure school attendance; and retailers texting you in real time as you browse, to suggest other items you might like in the store.
Kyi examines borderline privacy situations in short sidebars called The Creepy Line. Examples include the American insurance company that offers tiny in-car cameras that flick on when teen drivers are speeding or taking corners too quickly.
A Saudi tracking program was instituted in 2012 that alerted a woman's male guardian if she left the country without his permission (a Saudi woman is considered a minor throughout her life; she must have a father, brother, husband or son act as her guardian). Saudi Arabia suspended the program in 2014, after vehement international protest.
"We, as a society, haven't made a decision yet about these situations,"; says Kyi, "so for now it's up to us where our creepy line lies and where we want to give up our privacy ... or protect it.";
Vancouver-based Belle Wuthrich's astute, graphic-novelesque illustrations inject further insight into Kyi's messages, making it easy for readers to grasp commonalities between their lives and the situations depicted on the page.
At the book's end, there's a list of sources and suggestions for further reading to give teachers and parents ideas to keep the conversation going.
After finishing Eyes & Spies, her 20th book for young readers, Kyi put tape over all the webcams in her house.
"It's made me more determined to talk constantly to my kids about what they're doing online and how much they understand about it,"; she says. "Of course, we want to be online, and being online is a good thing, but we need to understand that everything we put out there is permanent.";
A mother of two school-aged children, Kyi carves out her writing time in the morning, reserving afternoons for editing, appointments, or catching up on email.
Her non-fiction titles DNA Detective (Annick, 2015), 50 Body Questions (Annick, 2014) and When the Worst Happens (Annick, 2014) have been nominated for Red Cedar, Silver Birch and Golden Oak awards.
9781554519101
Author Alex Van Tol travels to schools around B.C., speaking with students about biodiversity, as well as about anxiety and social media.
You didn't plan your route to tonight's party; you know Google Maps will get you there. You found your dress at Le Chateau's Cyber Monday sale, and browsed tall boots on the Hudson Bay's website before scoring a great used pair on Craigslist. At the market, you swiped your Air Miles card for the crackers you're bringing.
You're ready to rock.
Congratulations. You just gave away a fistful of personal information. For the next month, your browser will be inundated with ads for dresses and boots, and the customized Air Miles coupons are in the mail.
Big data, digital tattoos and the ever-growing encroachment of the wired world on our personal privacy are the subjects for Tanya Lloyd Kyi's Eyes & Spies: How You're Tracked and Why You Should Know.
Although it's written for kids in the 12-14 age range, every adult should get this book, read it five times, and then read it aloud to every child in their life throughout the duration of each meal, shower and toothbrushing session until the message sinks in.
Every time you hit like or agree, swipe a loyalty card or hell, even click on a link, you're sending out tiny bits of information about yourself that companies and governments can then use to map your preferences, habits and beliefs.
Sound a little paranoid? It did to Kyi, too, until she learned more about how data mining works. Her Eyes & Spies reveals how we've so blithely wandered into the yawning maw of the Zero Privacy Lifestyle, drawn by the siren songs of technological innovation.
Kyi spells out how targeted marketing works, how increased security measures affect us all, which governments are in possession of what kind of tracking software and how we have brought much of this on ourselves with our naïve trust in the companies and platforms that make our lives easier.
"It's so easy to just keep clicking "agree"; and to not even think about what you're giving away,"; says Kyi.
Kyi also examines how our world has greatly changed in recent years, especially in terms of the extent to which children have free range from home (concentrically smaller circles with each passing generation) and the extent to which we monitor their movements.
Eyes & Spies is written in straightforward language with heaps of real-world examples of privacy invasions-such as tracking mechanisms on kids' backpacks and shoes to ensure school attendance; and retailers texting you in real time as you browse, to suggest other items you might like in the store.
Kyi examines borderline privacy situations in short sidebars called The Creepy Line. Examples include the American insurance company that offers tiny in-car cameras that flick on when teen drivers are speeding or taking corners too quickly.
A Saudi tracking program was instituted in 2012 that alerted a woman's male guardian if she left the country without his permission (a Saudi woman is considered a minor throughout her life; she must have a father, brother, husband or son act as her guardian). Saudi Arabia suspended the program in 2014, after vehement international protest.
"We, as a society, haven't made a decision yet about these situations,"; says Kyi, "so for now it's up to us where our creepy line lies and where we want to give up our privacy ... or protect it.";
Vancouver-based Belle Wuthrich's astute, graphic-novelesque illustrations inject further insight into Kyi's messages, making it easy for readers to grasp commonalities between their lives and the situations depicted on the page.
At the book's end, there's a list of sources and suggestions for further reading to give teachers and parents ideas to keep the conversation going.
After finishing Eyes & Spies, her 20th book for young readers, Kyi put tape over all the webcams in her house.
"It's made me more determined to talk constantly to my kids about what they're doing online and how much they understand about it,"; she says. "Of course, we want to be online, and being online is a good thing, but we need to understand that everything we put out there is permanent.";
A mother of two school-aged children, Kyi carves out her writing time in the morning, reserving afternoons for editing, appointments, or catching up on email.
Her non-fiction titles DNA Detective (Annick, 2015), 50 Body Questions (Annick, 2014) and When the Worst Happens (Annick, 2014) have been nominated for Red Cedar, Silver Birch and Golden Oak awards.
9781554519101
Author Alex Van Tol travels to schools around B.C., speaking with students about biodiversity, as well as about anxiety and social media.
Submitted on June 8, 2017 in By David.
