User:Bucksin6/sandbox

Article Evaluations

First Article: Information Privacy


 * Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?

Everything is relevant to the topic, but the author makes their biases and opinions known through the use of words like “should.” The inclusion of opinions is what really distracted me. The last section about the Safe Harbor program seems unnecessary, since there’s already a section with hyperlinks to laws relating to privacy.


 * Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?

No information is “out of date” per se, but the information used in the article does seem to be from a long time ago. The article should talk more about privacy when it comes to Social Media.


 * Can you identify any notable equity gaps? Does the article underrepresent or misrepresent historically marginalized populations?

I don’t see any equity gaps. The article does seem to focus on Western countries and their privacy norms/laws considerably more than non-western countries.


 * What else could be improved?

The writing should be less biased. The authors sometimes uses “opinion” words. The article should talk more about privacy when it comes to Social Media.


 * Is the article neutral? Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?

The article is somewhat neutral, but the use of opinion language and the fact that the author gives advice of sorts to the reader makes it less so. The author is clearly for different forms of maintaining privacy, as they suggest to the reader to get a VPN.


 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?

The viewpoint of someone trying to be as private as possible seems to be overrepresented. Instead of just stating the facts, this article also gives suggestions of what is best in order to maintain privacy by using the word “should.”


 * Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?

The links do work. They also support the claims of the article.


 * Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?

Not every single fact is referenced with an appropriate and reliable reference. The information mostly comes from academic journals and news sources. Some of the news sources are definitely not neutral, whatsoever. The bias is not noted. The Register, a news company cited in the article, literally has the motto: “biting the hand that feeds IT.”


 * Do the sources come from a diverse array of authors and publications?

The sources are diverse because of the sheer number of sources, but it does seem as if there are far too many citation from the New York Times and other newspapers. Furthermore, some of the articles from these newspapers seem to be biased opinion pieces. Additionally, some of the news sites themselves claim that they are a news AND opinion publisher. The Register, a news company cited in the article, literally has the motto: “biting the hand that feeds IT.”


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?

On the talk page, there is mainly a discussion over whether to call the article “Information Privacy” or “Informational Privacy.” There is also conversation about the bias evident in the article.


 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?

It has been rated a “C-Class” article. It is part of the Computing, Internet, and Mass Surveillance WikiProjects.


 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

We haven’t talked about information privacy in class.

Second article: Privacy Policy


 * Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?

Everything in the article is relevant to the topic. Nothing distracted me.


 * Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?

None of the information is out of date, except for the part of the article that mentions California privacy laws. That section fails to mention the CCPA, a monumental privacy law that was passed in 2018.


 * Can you identify any notable equity gaps? Does the article underrepresent or misrepresent historically marginalized populations?

The article seems to only touch on privacy policy and privacy laws in Western countries and India. There are no other countries form Asia discussed about. Any sort of detail. Furthermore, no countries in Africa or South America are discussed, whatsoever.


 * What else could be improved?

The author could expand on the shorter sections, but it seems as if those sections are shorter because they have “Main Article[s].”


 * Is the article neutral? Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?

The article does seem to be neutral. There are no claims that appear to be heavily biased toward a particular position.


 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?

I wouldn’t call it “viewpoints” per se, but the policies and laws in western countries are overrepresented compared to the rest of the world.


 * Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?

The links do work. They all support the claims in the article.


 * Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?

Each fact has an appropriate and reliable reference. The information has come form independent academics sources and government websites. These are neutral sources, as the government is the entity that makes the laws surrounding privacy so they would have to most accurate information as it relates to privacy law. The academic articles also seem to come form a wide variety of publications, universities, and countries, making the article appear unbiased.


 * Do the sources come from a diverse array of authors and publications?

The sources do indeed come from a diverse array of authors, publications, universities, and countries.


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?

There is a discussion of the difference between a privacy policy and a privacy notice. There was also a discussion about how some of the language should be changed because it reinforces the false idea that privacy policies, by default, actually aim to protect one’s privacy.


 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?

The article has not been rated. It is a part of the Computing, Internet, and Business WikiProjects.


 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

We haven’t talked about this topic in class.