Setting up a Moodle in which users feel safe to make postings

Setting up a Moodle in which users feel safe to make postings

by Ian Thiele -
Number of replies: 5

I plan a new Moodle course in which I want to encourage participants to leave personally senstive details as part of their learning.

Part of the course will be designed to show how we build online identities which can be used to form trust relationships online.

But I need to ask myself this question first I think. what about my own online identity. Can people trust me? What strategies can I deploy to ensure my future customers trust the Moodle and ultimately me, to leave such senstive information?

Obviously they need to be using strong passwords. Should I register myself under UK Data Protection to show that I am not going to use the info they leave behind in Moodle for purposes beyond learning - such as selling their personal data to a marketing organisation? Should I deploy Moodle over SSL and get a Security Certificate to prove I am running a legitimate learning organisation? And how can  I in turn identify and employ trustworthy Elearning consultants to be my co-tutors in the Moodle? I am I better of offering some  forrm of contract to my Moodle learners in which I state my values in terms of preserving their privacy? I cannot find anwsers to all these questions so please advise me.

I raise these questions as I believe we should all be exercising caution about what we put on the internet. And we should be managing our online id and presence and be aware of the possibilities of ID theft. With Moodle we are being encouraged to put our personal thoughts online but to prevent ID theft we are told to reveal as little as possible online. How do we reconcile these two sets of needs?

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In reply to Ian Thiele

Re: Setting up a Moodle in which users feel safe to make postings

by E. L. Cooper -

Personally I would put up a TOS in moodle and since this is a classroom include a lesson on identity theft which is actually stealling someone legal presence and credits history vs online ID.

I would also diagree with this bit



With Moodle we are being encouraged to put our personal thoughts online but to prevent ID theft we are told to reveal as little as possible online.

Don't pass your credit card number,  national ID, home address or mothers maiden name in   public or private forums but those are not personal thoughts.

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In reply to E. L. Cooper

Re: Setting up a Moodle in which users feel safe to make postings

by Ian Thiele -

Your responses for me as a Moodle newcomer have been very useful.

What is a TOS?

 

Thanks

Ian

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In reply to Ian Thiele

Re: Setting up a Moodle in which users feel safe to make postings

by Russell Waldron -

Ian, I am not a lawyer, but I think you need one.

Sensitive, Identity, Trust, Relationships - these words have fairly technical meanings when we are building software, and completely different implications when applied to interpersonal interactions. Consider how much easier it is to establish a new 'identity' for bureaucratic purposes (after Identity-theft) than it is to rebuild a sense of personhood and significance (say, after long-term spousal abuse).

If you are going to keep away from personally sensitive topics, skip straight to the bottom.

Can you prepare customers to cope with differences between participants in sensitivity about everyday topics? Will you be discussing children (including illegitimate births, infant deaths, miscarriages, lost custody), marital status (including separating, homosexual, violent) or occupation (including conflicts of interest, undeclared income, prostitution)?

Everything we write in Moodle is available to everyone who ever enrols in the same forum, not just the tutors and consultant. You do need to very strongly set participant's expectations about how they must treat each other, and what will happen. If something too vulnerable or hurtful is mentioned, hide it immediately and discuss it with the author offline. Don't trust contractors to do that until they are proven. Your customer's well-being (and your business) are at stake.

A bunch of legislation was passed here, during the last decade, in response to growing public concern about privacy. If your business requests/invites personal information from anyone in my state, you have a legal obligation to comply with National Privacy Principles and state privacy laws. The definition of 'Personal Information' is broad. Taking data across borders triggers special duties. Because you are in another jurisdiction, any sensible user should understand that the local laws are not enforceable against you. Equally, the data is subject to search warrant in your county, and one of my countrymen has been extradited and jailed for purely online activity. There is no form of contract that will reassure us, if your business is registered overseas. However, that hasn't deterred millions of locals from signing up to Facebook.

Passwords, SSL, NDAs, background checks, data handling policies and backup encryption are necessary but well-defined technical measures. You'll certainly have to keep on top of them, but they are not going to be worrying. Good luck!

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In reply to Russell Waldron

Re: Setting up a Moodle in which users feel safe to make postings

by E. L. Cooper -

TOS means terms of service. In essence it is your contract with the user and can contain guidelines as well as a Non DIsclosure Agreement for site use. It is easy to put into your moodle so that on first login the person agrees. Sort of your site EULA

I totally agree that classroom forums require monitoring, rules of conduct and enforcable sancions for violation.

Passwords, SSL, NDAs, background checks, data handling policies and backup encryption have little if anything to do with your moodle set up and everything to do with hiring, payment  and technical policies.

 

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In reply to Ian Thiele

Re: Setting up a Moodle in which users feel safe to make postings

by Colin Matheson -

All good points about security, legality and terms of service agreements. As to how to build trust in an online community I recommend you get some ideas from Stephan Rinke. He gave an excellent presentation in last year's iMoot on several activities that can help folks share and build trust http://twitter.com/#!/stephanrinke

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