Categories: Education

The Glass Room: Looking into Your Online Life

It’s that time of year! The excitement of Black Friday carries into today – CyberMonday – the juxtaposition of the analog age and the digital age. Both days are fueled by media and retailers alike and are about shopping. And both days are heavily reliant on the things that we want, that we need and what we think others want and need. And, all of it is powered by the data about us as consumers. So, today – the day of electronic shopping – is the perfect day to provoke some deep thinking on how our digital lives impact our privacy and online security. How do we do this?

“The Glass Room”

One way is by launching “The Glass Room” – an art exhibition and educational space that teaches visitors about the relationship between technology, privacy and online security. The Glass Room will be open in downtown New York City for most of the holiday shopping season. Anyone can enter the “UnStore” for free to get a behind the scenes look at what happens to your privacy online. You’ll also get access to a crew of “InGeniouses” who can help you with online privacy and data tips and tricks. The Glass Room has 54 interactive works that show visitors the relationship between your personal data and the technology services and products you use.

glass-room

This is no small task. Most of us don’t think about our online security and privacy every day. As with our personal health it is important but presumed. Still, when we don’t take preventative care of ourselves, we are at greater risk for getting sick.

The same is true online. We are impacted by security and privacy issues everyday without even realizing it. In the crush of our daily lives, few of us have the time to learn how to better protect ourselves and preserve our privacy online. We don’t always take enough time to get our checkups, eat healthily and stay active – but we would be healthier if we did. We are launching The Glass Room to allow you to think, enjoy and learn how to do a checkup of your online health.

We can buy just about anything we imagine on CyberMonday and have it immediately shipped to our door. We have to work a little harder to protect our priceless privacy and security online. As we collectively exercise our shopping muscles, I hope we can also think about the broader importance of our online behaviors to maintaining our online health.

If you are in New York City, please come down to The Glass Room and join the discussion. You can also check out all the projects, products and stories that The Glass Room will show you to look into your online life from different perspectives by visiting The Glass Room online.