Terms of Service: A Comic about Privacy

“Terms of Service”

I haven’t yet read this so I can’t vouch for the content, but at first blush it looks terrific. Al Jazeera America reporter Michael Keller and non-fiction cartoonist Josh Neufeld created this digital comic book about the implications of living in the era of Big Data. In their introduction, they talk about the double-edged sword of being able to collect and analyze data almost instantaneously, how it can help us influence our own behavior for the better (curbing how much takeout food we eat, for example), or turn that data into tools that can be used against us.

Big companies are collecting and using this information too. This can be good or bad. Maybe we start making better choices about the food we eat and the money we spend. Or maybe an insurance company decides to increase its rate or even terminate a policy because it projects we’ll have diabetes in 18 months.

We believe many folks want to learn more about these issues but are turned off by often dense and jargon-laden coverage.

So we made a comic!

“Terms of Service” can be read in your browser at aljazeera.com. The site also has links to download it directly or acquire it (for free) through Google Play or the App Store. (Via Faisal.)

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