Taking Control of Your Personal Data

By: Jennifer Golbeck, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Professor Jennifer Golbeck

Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

We have never before in human history been able to share so much about ourselves so quickly. Neither have we ever been so exposed to forces that want to take advantage of that capability. Taking Control of Your Personal Data will open your eyes to the surprising extent of that exposure and will discuss your options for keeping your personal data as safe as possible. Your instructor, Professor Jennifer Golbeck of the College of Information Studies at University of Maryland, College Park, will show you what really goes on behind the scenes with the data you knowingly and unknowingly share all day long. You’ll be surprised to find out how much of your personal data is being manipulated perfectly legally - data you never intended for another person to see, data you didn’t even know was out there.

This course doesn’t offer a one-size-fits-all solution because no such solution exists. But this course will help you determine your personal privacy profile, decide whether or not to try the dark web and its Tor browser, and understand the current US laws and proposed state laws regarding privacy. Privacy issues are not going away; the technology that collects, analyzes, and derives insights from our data continues to grow at break-neck speed. As a society, we have not yet figured out how to apply appropriate ethics, values, and protections in parts of this domain. As individuals, we need exactly the type of information and direction provided by Taking Control of Your Personal Data.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2020 The Great Courses (P)2020 The Teaching Company, LLC

Very insightful - must listen for all

Great content for a course of this length. Very useful eye-opening insights for all. I just wish this was a more recent course and not from 2019 as things have changed during this time - would have loved to hear about the latest situation.

Narration is excellent and easy to follow. Prof. Golbeck’s passion on the subject and her oratory skills are wel reflected.

Interesting, useful and concise.

I’m no expert, but the speaker makes pretty compelling points for taking care of your digital privacy and gives interesting examples. The short duration makes me wonder whether there is more to it, but as I said, I’m not an expert.

Solid overview, basics

I could call this something like (and I apologize for anyone who might already own this title) "Privacy Today 101." It is a good framework for an overall awareness of tech-related privacy issues. It has the kind of information I think every modern person should know, to make informed and soundly self-interested decisions in everyday life.

Great information

So glad I picked this up. I learned a lot about data collection and a lot of practical information about how to protect myself. The professor is an excellent speaker and entertaining teacher. I enjoyed every minute of this offering.

The Best Book I've Seen on the Topic

This was a very good listen. It was in-depth enough and complete. It wasn't overly technical and seemed well researched. The narration was excellent. The PDF that accompanied the course was very useful. I learned several tricks and techniques and started implementing solutions as soon as I finished the book. I feel better informed and able to make better decisions about controlling my personal data. I'll still be using the internet, but better.

Easy Listen, informative, scary!!

I found the narrator to be easy to listen to. The content is very informative and definitely insightful.

Good listen, but superficial

Before starting this book, I knew a lot more than what was covered. It's very non-technical and covers a wide range of interesting topics. Even though it worked more as a consolidation/review for me, I still really enjoyed it. I just wish it would have been more comprehensive. For example, covering the use of password managers would have been critical.

Great listen for all types.

Wonderful listen for those who are concerned about privacy and steps to take to maintain it in our digital age.

I've been in the IT world for over 2 decades now, and rarely have I come across a lecture that discusses the vital core of the topic, doesn't diverge heavily and most importantly- keeps it from being "technobabble."

I plan to recommend this to a number of customers, and colleagues, who struggle with privacy and maintaining it.

Excellent content great speaker!

I had intended this to be a throwaway book as a 2 for 1 Great Books course. I had not found another that interested me, and I thought "why not?" Wow, was I blown away. The faculty member explained how data worked, data bias, protecting your data, and the dark web (who knew?). I have already implemented several suggestions from the course. The lectures were interesting and she is a great speaker. Audible should hire her to narrate! If you are interested in this topic and want to know how companies use your data, for good and bad, I would highly recommend this book.

Must listen to anyone with data online

Dr Golbeck has a deep knowledge of how the internet and big data work. She is sensitive to how people feel about their own data and provides strategies that can be tailored to individual preferences. Dr Golbeck has an even and easy to listen to pace and tone. You will want to replay some sections.