Why companies collect data about you

Name:

Date:

Class:

Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. Why might a company collect data about what you watch and click in its app?

A To learn what you like so it can show you things that suit you

B Because the law says every app must collect data about you

2. You search for football boots, and then adverts for football boots show up in other apps. What is this called?

A Targeted adverts

B A random coincidence

3. A game is free to download. How might the company still make money?

A By collecting data about players and showing adverts

B It cannot make any money, so it collects nothing

4. A video app keeps suggesting new videos you might like. How does it choose them?

A It picks videos at random and never looks at what you watch

B It uses data about the videos you watched and liked before

5. Why do apps want to keep you watching or playing for a long time?

A Apps want you to stay so you will learn more about privacy

B The longer you stay, the more data they collect and the more adverts you see

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1data collection		AFree apps are not always free of data collection. Many collect data about you to pay for themselves.
2targeted advert		Bsuggested_videos = based_on(watch_history)
3A free app makes money by collecting data about you and using it to show you adverts		CAn ad picked for you because a company has learned what you like from your online activity
4A video app uses what you have watched to suggest more videos so you keep using it		Dfree_app = collect(data) + show(adverts)
5free_app = no_data_collected		ECompanies record what you do online, such as what you watch and click, to learn what you like
6data_shared_with = nobody		FCompanies can share your data with other companies, such as advertisers, so it does not stay with just one.

Definitions

data collection

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

likes ← "dog videos" _______(likes)

interest ← "football boots" showAdvert(________)

appPrice ← 0 __ appPrice = 0 THEN collectData()

data ← collect(userClicks) _____(data, partnerCompany)

_____ userIsWatching DO suggest(nextVideo) END WHILE

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A watched = "football videos"

B likes = watched

C suggested = "more " + likes

D print("Up next:" suggested)

Question 2

A app_is_free = True

B if app_is_free

C print("It may track you")

Question 3

A interests = ["art", "dogs"

B for item in interests:

C print("Ad for", item)

Question 4

A data = "your searches"

B company = "ShopApp"

C partner = "AdCo"

D print(compny, "shares", data)

E print("with", partner)

Question 5

A minutes = 0

B minutes = minute + 15

C print("Tracked:", minutes)

Answer Key

Why companies collect data about you

Section A: Quick Questions

A — To learn what you like so it can show you things that suit you

A — Targeted adverts

A — By collecting data about players and showing adverts

B — It uses data about the videos you watched and liked before

B — The longer you stay, the more data they collect and the more adverts you see

Section B: Match the Pairs

data collection → Companies record what you do online, such as what you watch and click, to learn what you like

targeted advert → An ad picked for you because a company has learned what you like from your online activity

A free app makes money by collecting data about you and using it to show you adverts → free_app = collect(data) + show(adverts)

A video app uses what you have watched to suggest more videos so you keep using it → suggested_videos = based_on(watch_history)

free_app = no_data_collected → Free apps are not always free of data collection. Many collect data about you to pay for themselves.

data_shared_with = nobody → Companies can share your data with other companies, such as advertisers, so it does not stay with just one.

Section C: Definitions

data collection — Companies track what you do online to learn what you like, show you targeted adverts and keep you using their app or site. Free apps often pay for themselves this way.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

likes ← "dog videos"
suggest(likes)

interest ← "football boots"
showAdvert(interest)

appPrice ← 0
IF appPrice = 0 THEN collectData()

data ← collect(userClicks)
share(data, partnerCompany)

WHILE userIsWatching DO
  suggest(nextVideo)
END WHILE

Section E: Spot the Error

D — There is a comma missing between the two things inside print(). It should be print("Up next:", suggested). The app uses what you watched to suggest more videos.

B — An if line must end with a colon. It should be if app_is_free: so the message prints for free apps that may collect data.

A — The list is missing its closing square bracket. It should be interests = ["art", "dogs"]. Companies keep a list of your interests to pick targeted adverts.

D — The variable name is spelt wrong. compny was never created, so it should be company. This shows a company sharing your data with another company.

B — The variable is minutes, not minute, so the program cannot find it. It should be minutes = minutes + 15. Apps keep adding up how long you spend on them.