Educator Guide: Smartphones Overshare

OVERSHARING Before personal devices reveal too much about what you’re up to, researchers are trying to build in user protections — or at least call attention to vulnerabilities.
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About this guide
The article “Smartphones overshare” describes how apps that access various sensors in smartphones could be used to spy on people by collecting data without a person’s knowledge or consent. Students can focus on information and graphs reported in the article, follow connections to earlier articles about smartphones and pursue cross-curricular connections by exploring smartphone technology such as the sensors and the liquid-crystal display (LCD) screen. In a related activity, students can explore light polarization and the LCD technology used to illuminate smartphone screens. If the resources are available, students may use smartphones to collect a variety of sensor data from apps of their choice.