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Title:

The Secret Lives of Online Quizzes

Your vote:
Yes No
Organizer:
Chris Conley, ACLU of Northern California
Description:
Ever waste 10 minutes (of your own time, of course!) taking an online quiz? Are they as trivial and innocent as they seem, or is there more happening behind the scenes? Join an ACLU attorney slash Facebook quiz author and learn more about the secret lives of online quizzes - and their creators!
Questions
Answered:
  1. What are the different kinds of online quizzes?
  2. Who takes these quizzes?
  3. Who creates these quizzes? Why do they do so?
  4. How much can quiz writers learn about you just from your answers to the quiz?
  5. How much can quiz writers learn about you "behind the scenes" (i.e. from sources other than your answers)?
  6. Are users aware that quizzes can collect and retain information about them?
  7. How do they respond when they find out?
  8. What can quiz writers do with this information?
  9. Is there any practical way for users to take quizzes without sharing information?
  10. Does this mean I shouldn’t take that quiz to find out which superhero my dog is most like?
Level:
Intermediate
Category:
Advertising, Social Issues, Social Networking, Web Apps / Widgets
Type:
Solo
Event:
Interactive 2010
Deborah Gonzalez
on 20/8/09
Seems like a timely panel.
Ben Baldassare
on 20/8/09
It's funny to me that people worry about the privacy of this kind of information. I like to control what sorts of people who have personal connections to me have access to this, but when it comes to corporations I feel that them having more information ultimately can only serve to benefit me as their research can help them better products that make me happy and make them money. Besides, I'd never try to hide anything like my political feelings or my religious feelings, nobody should!
Chris Conley
on 21/8/09
Ben,

Thanks for the comment!

For many people, politics and religion are extremely personal issues - that's why we have secret ballots for elections!

More generally, if you choose to share information with companies, that's your choice. But when online quizzes and other tools silently collect information about unsuspecting visitors, there's no real choice being made. Part of the goal of this panel is to expose the "secret lives" of these quizzes just so people can make an informed choice - whatever they ultimately choose to do.
Chris Conley
on 24/8/09
If you haven't seen it yet, our Facebook quiz on this topic was released late last week:

http://apps.facebook.com/aclunc_privacy_quiz/

It highlights a few things about Facebook in particular, namely the fact that your personal information could be exposed if you haven't changed your default privacy settings and your FRIEND takes a quiz.

Check it out and let us know what you think!
Chris Conley
on 4/9/09
More than 47,000 Facebook users have taken our quiz and seen what happens behind the scenes there. We hope to see some of those users at SXSW!
Chris Conley
on 15/9/09
Updated numbers: over 82,000 Facebook quiz-takers and still counting, and over 26,000 people have signed a petition demanding stronger privacy protections from Facebook.
tiffany jewelry
on 20/10/09
Good idea for a panel. Case studies ARE good. :)
tiffany jewelry
on 22/10/09
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iphone ringtone maker
on 13/11/09
I'd be super into learning from Kris. Dig it!
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