Instagram: @WHENYOUCLICKAGREE

Who?

Six youth from London and surrounding areas, Shannon Brown, a content expert from Ryerson University, and mindyourmind came together to discuss Digital Rights and how they often affect youth in their technology-driven lives.

HOW?

With support from the Digital Rights Community Grant Program, we held a Design Lab to explore what young people's rights are in digital spaces, and how to inform other youth of what we had learned. Through interactive games, collaborative brainstorming and a ton of hard work, the youth helped formulate the basis for a social media campaign.

Why?

In a world filled with technology that is constantly evolving, it can be a challenge to keep up with the newest devices, apps or trends. Companies are constantly looking for new ways to enhance their products to increase revenue; this means continuously making changes to not only their services, but also their Terms and Conditions. Many of these changes go unnoticed but some can have a large impact on the amounts and kinds of information we are providing to companies and their affiliates (know as “families”). While many people might take precautions when getting a suspicious email or file sent to them, in a study prepared for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada in 2016, nearly 60% of participants reported that they hadn’t read the Privacy Policy before downloading an app. For many of us clicking agree on a new set of Terms and Conditions takes merely seconds, but have you ever stopped to take the time to learn about what happens When You Click Agree?

When You Click Agree is a digital rights awareness campaign, designed by youth and for youth. It seeks to support youth and young adults, in making informed decisions when signing up to use various social media platforms.

Through exploring the Terms and Conditions of a number of Social Media Platforms, youth involved in the Digital Rights Design Lab developed a list of the top 10 things someone would need to know before clicking AGREE on their social media account. 

Top 10 Things You Are Likely saying YES to When You Click Agree

1. You will treat other social media users with kindness and respect.  
2. You are responsible and accountable for what you post on your social media account. 
3. Social media platforms are not storage devices and cannot guarantee your photos will be there forever.  
4. Social media platforms have the right to delete your posts or account for any reason. They also can’t guarantee that you will be comfortable with all the content you view.
5. Social media platforms can use, modify and display your posts, photos and messages however they want, with no compensation to you. 
6. Social media platforms collect a lot of information about you including: people, pages, private messages, hashtags and groups you are connected to.    
7. Social media platforms can monitor your purchase you make with your account and can track your debit or credit card information. 
8. Social media platforms have access to your location, camera, photos on your phone or any other information you have allowed then to access. 
9. When you sign up for one social media platform you are allowing any platform in that “family” to access your information. 
10. Social media platforms can update their Terms and Conditions at any time.

It is important that no matter what Social Media Platform you use to be aware of the specific Terms and Conditions related to each product and how your information will be used and stored.  To help you learn more about the specifics for your social media accounts visit their pages:

Instagram Terms and Conditions

Facebook Terms and Conditions

Snapchat Terms and Conditions

Tiktok Terms and Conditions

It might not be realistic to delete all of your accounts and remove yourself from social media entirely, but there are some things that you can do to better protect your information and yourself. Here are a few ideas from McAfee on how you can protect your personal information on your social media account:

• Be selective when accepting a friend: Do you really know that their profile is real and not fake? Only “friend” people you know in the real world.
• Manage your privacy settings: Make sure that you are only sharing information with friends and family and check them regularly in case there are any changes.
• Don’t reveal personal information: Be suspicious of anyone who asks for your personal information online and never share your home address, phone number, Social Security number, or other personal identifying information.
• Turn off the GPS function on your smartphone camera: If you plan to share images online, make sure that you turn off the GPS on your device to keep your exact location private.
• Close old accounts that you don’t use anymore: Don’t risk leaving personal data in an old account, such as a Facebook profile you haven’t used in years, or on an online dating site you no longer need. Instead, close the accounts you don’t use and delete as much personal information from them as possible.

This project is supported by the Digital Rights Community Grant Program a partnership between Digital Justice Lab, Tech Reset Canada and Centre for Digital Rights. To learn more about this grant program visit digitaljusticelab.ca/grants.  

Youth Team

The youth team came up with three questions to answer:

1. What are your pronouns
2. Three words to describe you
3. What is your favorite ice cream flavour