← ACARA Digital Technologies Years 9–10

Critiquing a student solution's digital footprint against the APPs

List the data a solution collects, test each item against the relevant APPs as met, partly met or not met, then recommend changes that shrink the footprint.

Part of: ACARA Digital Technologies Years 9–10 — Privacy Principles and Digital Footprints — Module 43

Understanding Critiquing a student solution's digital footprint against the APPs in ACARA Digital Technologies Years 9–10

What it does: This names the exact change and cuts the data collected, so it is specific and lowers the footprint. Re-checking repeats the test on the changed solution. The rating moves from not met to met, which shows the fix worked. A critique starts with an audit. You can't test data against the APPs until you know exactly what the app collects. A quiz doesn't need a home address, so APP 3 (collecting only what is reasonably necessary) is the relevant principle to test. Typing data in doesn't make it necessary. The extra data and missing notice are evidence the APP isn't fully met.

Common mistakes: Python loops use 'in', not 'of'. The critique loop that tests each collected item must be 'for item in data:'. The string is missing its closing quote. A rating such as "partly met" must be a complete string: status = "partly met".

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This module's key terms are also in a printable crossword (Modules 876–944) and word search (Modules 860–944).

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Learning
Duo
A student is critiquing a homework-tracker app. What should they do FIRST?
Write the recommendation to fix the appList every piece of data the app collects
Matches
APP 3 | Location | Met
↓
A rating is given with no evidence. Add why, for example: 'GPS is collected but the app works without it', so the rating is Not met.
Applying
Meanings
Term
privacy critique
Meaning
List the data a solution collects, test each item against the relevant APPs as met, partly met or not met, then recommend changes that shrink the footprint.
Practice
LIST data: name, email, GPS location
Testing
Gaps
FOR EACH item datalist
Check Answer
Spots
1data = ["name", "GPS", "DOB"]
2for item of data:

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Quick Questions

1. A student is critiquing a homework-tracker app. What should they do FIRST?
A. Write the recommendation to fix the app
B. List every piece of data the app collects ✓
A critique starts with an audit. You can't test data against the APPs until you know exactly what the app collects.
2. A quiz app asks for each player's home address. Which APP should you test this against?
A. APP 3: collect only what is reasonably necessary ✓
B. APP 12: access to personal information
A quiz doesn't need a home address, so APP 3 (collecting only what is reasonably necessary) is the relevant principle to test.
3. Which rating fits best? A sign-up form collects a birth date, but the app only needs to know the user is over 13, and the form says nothing about why it is collected.
A. Partly met or not met, with the evidence recorded ✓
B. Met, because the user typed it in themselves
Typing data in doesn't make it necessary. The extra data and missing notice are evidence the APP isn't fully met.
4. Which is a specific recommendation for a student's fitness app?
A. Make the app more private
B. Remove the GPS tracking and ask only for a nickname ✓
A specific recommendation names the exact change. 'More private' is vague and can't be checked afterwards.
5. Which is the best evidence for rating APP 5 (notifying people when collecting data) as 'not met'?
A. The app collects emails but shows no collection notice ✓
B. I just don't like how the app looks
Evidence must point to something observable in the solution, such as a missing notice. Personal opinion isn't evidence.

Match the Pairs

Data collected: name, email, birthdate, GPS location → Step 1: list every item of data the prototype or app collects, so nothing is missed
APP 3 | Birthdate | Not met | Not needed for a quiz → Step 2: test one data item against a relevant APP and record met, partly met or not met with evidence
A recommendation must be specific and shrink the footprint, not just say 'be more private' → Remove the birthdate field and ask for year level only
After making a change, re-check the same data items against the APPs to confirm the rating improved → APP 3 | Birthdate removed | Met
APP 3 | Location | Met → A rating is given with no evidence. Add why, for example: 'GPS is collected but the app works without it', so the rating is Not met.
Recommendation: Collect less data → The recommendation is vague. It should name the data item and the change, such as 'Remove the phone number field from sign-up'.

Key Term

privacy critique
List the data a solution collects, test each item against the relevant APPs as met, partly met or not met, then recommend changes that shrink the footprint.

Fill in the Blanks

1. FOR EACH item IN data_list CHECK item AGAINST relevant_apps
Hint: Type the keyword that links the loop variable to the list of collected data items.
2. IF needed = false THEN rating ← "not met"
Hint: Type the rating given when the data is not needed and the APP is not followed.
3. IF rating ≠ "met" THEN ADD recommendation TO report
Hint: Type the comparison operator meaning 'is not equal to', so only weak ratings get a recommendation.
4. APPLY recommendation TO form RE-CHECK form AGAINST relevant_apps
Hint: Type the keyword for testing the solution again after the change has been made.
5. relevant_apps ← ["APP 3", "APP 11"]
Hint: Type the variable name that holds the list of APPs chosen for the critique.

Spot the Error

Question 1
A data = ["name", "GPS", "DOB"]
B for item of data:
C print(item, "APP 3")
Line B — Python loops use 'in', not 'of'. The critique loop that tests each collected item must be 'for item in data:'.
Question 2
A status = "partly met
B evidence = "Asks for DOB"
C print(status, "-", evidence)
Line A — The string is missing its closing quote. A rating such as "partly met" must be a complete string: status = "partly met".
Question 3
A app = "QuizApp"
B collected = ["name", "email"]
C print(app, length(collected))
Line C — Python counts the items in a list with len(), not length(). The footprint size should be len(collected).
Question 4
A collected = {"email", "DOB"}
B needed = ["email"]
C print(collected - needed)
Line B — Subtracting a list from a set causes an error. needed must be a set, needed = {"email"}, so the extra data (DOB) can be found.
Question 5
A collected = ["name", "GPS"]
B score = 0
C if "GPS" == collected:
D score += 1
Line C — == compares one string to the whole list, so it is never true. To check whether GPS is collected, use 'in': if "GPS" in collected:.

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