Immersive Data Safety: 7-in-7

Introduction
This is the third day of 7-in-7. Today, I have created a visual narrative for a part of my thesis.
This prototype follows from yesterday's experience (which showed the sources of online data collection). It shows the actions people can take to protect their privacy and use the internet in a better way. The idea is to create actionable insights for people to experience and learn from. 

The scene is set up in Virtual Reality, in which the viewer finds themselves in a sea of people using their laptops and phones. As they get closer to any of them, they see the corresponding actions they are taking on their device to protect privacy. The background environment is brighter, creating a sense of enlightenment.

Process
​I started this project by creating an online persona. I called them Akshi Cherry, a GenZ in their 20s, who is thoughtful, unsure, identity conscious, unique, online, and social. As Akshi, I created social profiles and captured online activity. Every activity was done in a way that privacy is secured. For instance, as Akshi was creating their Facebook profile, they turned off all ad personalization and updated their privacy settings. 

Content
Overall, I mapped about 30 actions that people can take to secure their online privacy. These were divided into actions people can take on the web and personal devices. Then, I recorded these actions on my phone (iOS) and desktop (Windows) and used them inside the scene shown above. The entire list and some of those actionable clips are shared below.

Desktop/ Web Actions​

• Create social media accounts by reading terms of service
• Stop ad tracking on Google Profile
• Disable and delete history from Google Profile
• Make Instagram profile private
• Stop ad tracking on Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter​
• Disable ad tracking from website privacy policies (like, The Guardian)
• Enable 2-factor authentication
• Establish a fake digital profile (name, photo, email, birthday, country)
• Create password with sentences (howsecureismypassword)
• Log out of Google when doing a web search
• Check account vulnerability on haveibeenpwned.com and spokeo.com
• Don’t click on the first few results on Google (ads)
• Use YouTube ad blocker

iPhone Actions

• ​Stop ad tracking on Apple Devices
  
• Turn off background app refresh from iOS
  
• “Ask Location Every Time” on iOS
  
• How to take a selfie - don’t show your fingers. Those are your biometrics
  
• Download Jumbo to monitor social profile vulnerability
  

Alternatives

• Use Mozilla Firefox Browser - everywhere (with plugins)
  
• Use Firefox Private Network or NordVPN
  
• Use 1-password or LastPass password managers
  
• Use temporary disposable emails for login
  
• Use digital avatars instead of your face (profile pictures)
  
• Search on DuckDuckGo.com instead of Google.com

Activity Controls Google Account

​Have I been pwned?

Facebook Privacy Controls

Akshi Outlook Account

Akshi LastPass Password Manager

Download Mozilla Firefox

​iOS Ad Tracking

Akshi Snapchat Account

Jumbo Privacy iOS

Akshi Twitter Account

Inspiration
Bartosz Morawski - One Direction