Term |
Definition |
|---|---|
| Ad Blocker | A browser extension that hides/blocks ads on webpages that you're looking at. Ad blockers improve your browsing experience |
| Algorithm | A set of processes, instructions or rules used especially by computers to perform calculations, solve problems and process data (and on social media, provide recommendations for content) |
| Anonymity |
1. Anonymity in a web context means that when you visit a website it can’t identify and distinguish you from any other visitor, or even know whether you’ve visited previously 2. The process of altering personal data so that it is no longer identifiable. |
| Behavioural Advertising | A technique used by advertisers to present targeted ads to you by collecting information about your browsing habits and history |
| Bounce Tracking | Also called redirect tracking, a method websites use to track you by hiding trackers in the links that you click on |
| Browser | An app for looking at and interacting with websites |
| Cache | A storage area on your device that holds content - such as images - from frequently accessed webpages. Storing website content like this helps those websites load more quickly the next time you visit. |
| Catfishing | Setting up a fake online identity to deceive other people, often to try to scam money out of them through creating a fake romantic relationship |
| Clickbait | An attention-grabbing headline, image or link designed to get you to click on it, usually deceptive, sensationalised or misleading and designed to exploit the curiosity gap |
| Consent | Where you choose, of your own free will, to accept sharing of your data or cookies being placed on your device |
| Cookie | A small text file placed on your device by a website when you visit it. Cookies can help personalise your web experience and save, e.g., login information. Cookies are often used to track you. |
| Cookie Banner/Popup | A popup box on websites, seeking visitor consent for cookie usage, as mandated by privacy laws like GDPR. You should have the options to reject or accept all cookie types or choose what individual cookies you accept |
| Curiosity Gap | The desire people have to figure out missing information when presented with an eye-catching headline |
| Cyberbullying | Bullying or harassment using electronic means |
| Dark Patterns | Website or app design features that try to trick you into doing something you wouldn't otherwise mean to, like sign up for marketing emails or accept tracking cookies |
| Dark Web | A part of the web that can't be accessed by ordinary web browsers and needs special software or epxlicit permission to be accessed., All sorts of interesting and illegal activities take place on the dark web, including the sale of stolen personal data |
| Data Breach | The unauthorised access and release of sensitive and personal user data from a website, usually due to a cyberattack. The bigger your digital footprint, the more personal data about you might be available online |
| Demographics | The various characteristics of a population. Examples of demographics can include factors such as the race, sex, income and age of a population. These characteristics can be used to facilitate targeted advertising |
| Doxxing | Revealing - online - personal information about someone without their consent |
| ePrivacy Directive | An EU directive dealing with regulation of a number of important issues such as confidentiality of information, treatment of traffic data, spam and cookie usage |
| Extension | Also called an add-on, a mini app that sits within a browser and extends or adds to its functionality. |
| Fingerprinting | Fingerprinting is a tracking technique that doesn’t rely on cookies. Instead, it uses the properties and features of your browser (e.g. type, version, extensions you have installed) and device (e.g., operating system) to identify you |
| First-Party Cookie | A cookie placed on your device by the website that you are visiting |
| GDPR | The EU's General Data Protection Regulation, A privacy regulation and legal framework that sets guidelines for the collection and processing of personal data. See this page for more information |
| Geolocation | The process of using technology to determine the location of an electronic device (and therefore usually a person) |
| Hacking | Unauthorised accessing of computers and networks, often to steal personal information |
| Identity Theft | A type of theft where your personal information is stolen and used for criminal activity |
| Internet of Things | The network of physical devices such as vehicles and home appliances, and other items connected to the Internetand capable of sharing data, such as their usage patterns. |
| Invisible Audience | All those people who you don't know that can see information about you, or posted by you, online |
| Keylogger | A piece of (malicious) software that monitors and record keystrokes (including e.g., passwords and credit card numbers) on a computer or device and transmits this information to another user |
| Legitimate Interest | When businesses have a necessary and lawful business reason to process your personal data |
| Malware | Software that has a malicious purpose. Common uses of malware are to steal private information, or simply cause chaos |
| Metadata | Data that describes and gives information about other data. Examples might include author, title, date created, date modified, and file size. Metadata can help with geolocation |
| Opt-In | Where you have to deliberately and freely choose to share your personal information with a third party (non-sharing is the default under GDPR) |
| Opt-Out | Where you have to deliberately choose not to share your personal information with a third party (sharing your data is the default in most places outside the EU) |
| Oversharing | Sharing too much and too personal information online, which you may regret later |
| Persistent Cookie | A cookie that is stored on your device until you delete it, or it expires. Online shopping sites often use this type of cookie |
| Personal Data/Information | Data/Information that describes and can be used to identify an individual |
| Phishing | Trying to stealing people’s passwords and personal information by tricking them - through a fake website that pretends to be a legit one or by email/text sent by someone pretending to be a friend/family./member/colleague/employer. |
| Posting | Creating and displaying content online (e.g., to a social media platform) |
| PPC | Pay Per Click - a model of digital advertising where the advertiser pays a fee to the website each time one of their ads is clicked |
| Private Browsing | A feature in browsers that wipes your browsing history once you close the private window. Use it if you don't want cookies, cache files or browsing history saved (Your Internet provider can still see what you're doing though) |
| Pseudonymity |
1. A state of not quite anonymity - where websites can tell whether you’ve been to the site before and remember what you did in previous visits, but otherwise don't know anything about you in real life 2. The process of replacing personal data fields within a data record with other data so that the personal data cannot be attributed to one single individual |
| Publicly Available Information | Information that is available to the general public, such as names and addresses in a telephone book |
| Pwn |
1. To gain administrative control of someone else’s computer or their personal information (hacking) 2. To completely dominate or defeat someone (video games) |
| Reputation | The general opinion that people have of you, based a lot on you what you say and do (and post online!) |
| Sensitive Personal Information | Sensitive personal information refers to data that you would reasonably expect to have a greater degree of control over, such as health or financial information |
| Session Cookie | Cookies that are active only while you are browsing a site and will be deleted when you leave the site |
| Shadow Profile | A profile of you created by a social media platform that you're not a member of. This data is generated by information your friends share and by the platform looking at their contacts. |
| Smishing | A form of phishing that text messages to try to trick you into opening a malicious link or handing over your personal information. |
| Social Engineering | The phrase used to describe a variety of tactics used by criminals (and others) to trick you into doing something you wouldn't normally do, usually online. Phishing is one type of social engineering |
| Social Media | Online platforms and applications that let you create, share, and interact with content and connect with others |
| Social Media Bot | Often shortened to bot, an automated social media account usually created for malicious purposes |
| Sock Puppet | Fake online identity created to troll or deceive. Many sock puppets created to praise, defend, or support a person or organisation on online arguments. |
| Spam | The digital equivalent of junk mail and your punishment for displaying your email address online. Email addresses are frequently scraped from public pages by automated processes |
| Spear phishing | A targeted phishing attack that uses personalised messaging, especially emails, to trick a specific individual, group or organisation into believing they are legitimate |
| Swatting | Calling in a fake report to emergency services, accusing another person of a crime serious enough to merit an armed response. Swatting incidents have resulted in injury and death |
| Targeted Advertising | Providing advertisements to a specific audience or individual based on attributes such as demographics, location, browsing and purchase history |
| Terms of Service | The legal agreements between a service provider and a person who wants to use that service - describes the rules the company and users must obey. |
| Third-Party Cookie | Cookies placed by a company/website different to the one you're visiting. For example, advertising, analytics, or social media cookies. Google wants to eliminate third-party cookies |
| Trojan | Malware that hides from users, disguising itself as a useful or desired app |
| Trolling | The act of deliberately upsetting people or starting arguments online with the intention of provoking emotional response |
| Vishing | A phishing attack made using fraudulent (AI-generated) voice phone calls. |
| Warrant Canary | A method by which a platform aims to tell users that the provider has been served with a government subpoena looking for user data despite not being allowed to tell users about it. For example, a site might display an image saying, "The government has not been here" and then remove the image when the government comes looking for information. |
| Web Scraping | The large-scale collection of public data from websites using specialised bots and software called web crawlers |
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