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How Can Technology Enhance Student Creativity?

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Why is it that children today are more attracted to video games than comic books? A huge amount of thought, creativity and art has gone into designing those artistic little video games. They encourage children to bring out their hidden artistic selves,

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Updated 19/08/2022

Technology has completely changed virtually every aspect of our society over the past few decades, from the way we work to the way we socialize and everything in between. One of the differences that have been most noticeable is the change in the way that children play and interact with each other from previous generations. Although technology does provide many...

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How Technology Impacts Children's Development

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Updated 19/08/2022 Technology has completely changed virtually every aspect of our society over the past few decades, from the way we work to the way we socialize and everything in between. One of the differences that have been most noticeable is the change in the way that children play and interact with each other from previous generations.

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How can technology empower children in the developing world? - podcast

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Technology and digital tools can empower children and young people in developing nations but what is the role of business in this and where do the challenges lie?

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How Can Technology Enhance Student Creativity?

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Why is it that children today are more attracted to video games than comic books? A huge amount of thought, creativity and art has gone into designing those artistic little video games. They encourage children to bring out their hidden artistic selves,

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How Technology Can Expand Creativity and Innovation in Education - The Edvocate

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Spread the love Creativity has always been a part of a successful classroom, however recent advances in technology are making it possible to increase the ability for students to use their creativity in academia. With the ability to take and store thousands of pictures and videos, and listen to music…

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If you Google "effects of early STEM education," you will find pages of articles outlining the positive lasting effects of exposing your child to STEM concepts early, and throughout their development. Governments and school boards are continuing to focus more of their attention on STEM, and enrollment in STEM education programs has skyrocketed.

Why the popularity?

Because it's been shown time and again that early exposure to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) can have a drastic effect on a child's interests and eventual future career choices.

Intuitively, that makes sense, right?

How can a child grow up to develop the next big video game if they were never exposed to computers or coding?

For the majority of us, it is our upbringing and early experiences that influence who we become as adults. Today's tech giants are no different, and seem to have also been influenced by early childhood experiences. Before they were "Elon Musk" or "Susan Wojcicki" or "Jeff Bezos," they were 10-year-old kids playing on the same playgrounds your kids are.

Jeff Bezos showcased a maker's mindset before creating Amazon.

As a child, Jeff Bezos showed an early interest in STEM, following an innate interest in learning how things worked. After using a screwdriver as a toddler to take his crib apart, and then building his own electrical alarm system to keep his siblings out of his bedroom, he quickly earned a reputation around his household as a little inventor. He set up a "workshop" in his parents garage, where he would continue to build his own toys and take household items apart to see how they worked.

In high school, Bezos further developed his love for technology and business when he started his first endeavor, the Dream Institute, an education summer camp for 4th-6th graders.

Bezos went on to pursue his interest in computers at Princeton, where he studied computer science and electrical engineering. After initially pursuing - and succeeding in - a career in finance, Bezos would eventually quit to chase a passion of starting the online bookstore that would eventually become e-commerce giant, Amazon.

Again, where did it all start? By tinkering, really. It's probably not fair to say Bezos went from a young maker in his family garage to the richest person in history, because there was a lot that happened in between, including a stint at McDonald's as a 16-year-old. The point is though, he made the most of each opportunity along the way, whether that was exploring the inner workings of the household items he was taking apart or becoming enamored with automation of the golden arches.

Marissa Mayer used her focus on academics and extracurricular activities to push herself to the top of the tech industry.

As a child and through her early years, Marissa Mayer was a dedicated student and took an early interest to math and science. This would continue throughout high school, where she excelled in chemistry, calculus, biology and physics.

Mayer's parents placed importance on extracurricular activities, with Mayer never having fewer than one after-school activity per day. Ballet, ice-skating, piano, swimming, debate, and Brownies as a child. In high school, she was president of her high school's Spanish club, treasurer of the Key Club, captain of the debate team, and captain of the pom-pom squad.

Download our 2018 brochure to learn more about getting your child started with STEM. Or, continue reading about today's tech giants!

Mayer said in an interview that her mother intended to "overstimulate" her by surrounding her with many activities, and letting Mayer pick what she liked best.

Her deep dive into science came after graduating from high school, when she was chosen to attend the National Youth Science Camp in West Virginia, a experience that greatly shaped how she thought about problems.

She then went on to attend Stanford, where she intended to major in pediatric neuroscience, but later switched her major to symbolic systems, a major that combined philosophy, cognitive psychology, linguistics, and computer science. She would continue down this path, later receiving her Masters in computer science with a specialty in artificial intelligence. For her undergraduate thesis, she built travel-recommendation software.

Upon graduation, Mayer had 14 job offers! She eventually decided to become the 20th employee, and the first female engineer at Google, later crediting the decision to the fact that she wanted to challenge herself. She helped develop many of Google's search offerings, including working on Google Maps and AdWords. Thirteen years later, she was appointed president and CEO of Yahoo and became one of the most powerful women in tech.

Although she is no longer the CEO of Yahoo, today, Mayer has big plans (although she has not disclosed the details). She has returned to where she began her career - by renting the same office where Google and Paypal started.

The lesson here? Doors are opened with a background in STEM. From multiple job offers, to prominent roles with Google and Yahoo - and now the chance to pursue another tech endeavor - Mayer created, and is still traveling, a path flush with opportunity.

Mark Zuckerberg created a messaging program at the age of 12.

Mark Zuckerberg developed an interest in STEM at an early age thanks to a father who exposed his children to computers early on. At the young age of 12 years old, Zuckerberg used the programming language Atari BASIC to create a messaging program which he called "ZuckNet." His father was an early user, employing the program in his dental office and around the house for communication.

Of course, Zuckerberg didn't stop there. He would use his new talent to build video games, using pictures drawn by his friends, just for fun. Self admittedly, some of the games were "terrible," but it was his persistence that helped him get into programming!

As Zuckerberg's interests developed, his father hired a computer tutor to administer private lessons, but found his son's knowledge quickly outgrew that of his tutor.

While in high school, Zuckerberg further advanced his abilities by taking a computer graduate glass at nearby Mercy College. From there, it was Harvard for Zuckerberg, where he took mostly computer science courses, and eventually created what is now known as Facebook.

Taking a step back, the talents and accomplishments of Zuckerberg are rare-we all can't go out and build a "Facebook." But, the principles hold true-he had the early exposure and resulting opportunities. When we give young minds the chance to explore a new skill, there is no telling what they'll achieve, whether that's creating the next great social media platform, a new app, a unique video game, a startup for social good, or something else of value.

Elon Musk used an early interest in computers to become one of the world's most prominent tech magnates.

Elon Musk grew up in South Africa, and had a self-described "rough childhood." However, he found an escape through his interest in computers and technology.

Around 10 years old, Elon began to teach himself how to program, and by the time he was 12, he created a video game called "Blastar." (He would later sell the code to the magazine PC and Office Technology for $500. )

In 1992, Musk began to study business and physics at the University of Pennsylvania, and after graduating from Penn, he moved on to Stanford to pursue a PhD in energy physics. However, due to a little thing called the internet and technology boom taking place at the time in the Silicon Valley, he dropped out after just two days.

Musk would eventually launch his first company, Zip2 Corporation, and of course, has since assumed position as CEO of Tesla, and founder of SpaceX.

In contrast to Zuckerberg, Musk didn't have a parent hand down exposure to STEM. Instead, he pursued it himself, as an interest - to start - and then turned it into something tangible in his very own video game.

His story is relatable in the sense that, anyone could learn to build a video game. And, the opportunities and tools at the disposal of today's kids are more readily available then they have ever been.

Larry Page took to his computer science pedigree to create internet behemoth, Google.

Larry Page quickly developed an interest in STEM in his childhood home in Michigan in the 1970s, thanks to two parents deeply ingrained in computer science- his father, a pioneer in artificial intelligence, and his mother, a computer programming teacher.

Both would prove to be instrumental in Page's upbringing, sharing their computer science knowledge with him and encouraging him to pursue an education in the computer science field.

Page earned a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from the University of Michigan, and went on to study computer engineering at Stanford, where he met Sergey Brin. Together, the two developed the little search engine that could, forming what would come to be known as Google, now one of the most recognizable companies in the world.

What stands out with Page's story is the success that came from collaboration. Could he have gone on to big things on his own? He certainly had the makeup, but it's something we will never know. What we do know for a fact, though, is that it was with a like-minded Brin, he was able to create something revolutionary and lasting.

While the team came together after childhood, it's a promising lesson for any child looking to get involved in STEM-surround yourself with others in the same boat to learn even more and gain synergies to take ideas to the next level.

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki is one of the leading women in tech.

Susan Wojcicki was born into a family focused on education - her father was a physics professor at Stanford, and her mother worked as an American educator and journalist.

Both parents encouraged Wojcicki to explore the world around her, and develop a sense of independence. Taking to the advice, Susan would start her first business at age 11- selling "spice ropes" door to door.

From there, Wojcicki attended college at Harvard, and majored in humanities, taking her first computer science class as a senior. She strove to build a career in academics, but after learning about technology and the possibilities of the tech boom, she changed her mind.

Today, Susan is one of the leading women in tech, working as the CEO of YouTube (and an early advocate for iD Tech's all-girls summer program, Alexa Cafe).

Which brings us to a point that we cannot overlook-that we have listed six tech giants here and only two are female. That is a problem that is not only in this article, but is pervasive in our society and in the tech industry and STEM fields alike.

We are tackling the problem with Alexa Café, while also drastically altering the curriculum in our co-ed programs to ensure girls can enroll in courses that matter to them.

Four years ago, 12% of our campers were female. Today, 24% of our total camper population is made up of girls-we are making strides towards 50/50 gender parity. (Not to mention that 38% of our summer staff and 57% of our program directors are women.)

Importance of Early STEM Exposure

So what do these tech visionaries have in common?

They all showed early interests in STEM, and developed those interests throughout their childhoods and early education. Some were self-taught, and others benefited from parents already in STEM fields, but either way, early exposure seems to have instilled the confidence needed to pursue future careers. .

In an interview, Mark Zuckerberg had this to say about early STEM exposure:

"We as a society need to get to a point where everyone has the same opportunity and the same ability to be playing with technology and experimenting with different things, because that's how you eventually get into engineering. You learn and you mess around with things and design some things."

We wholeheartedly agree with Zuckerberg's point about changing as a society and giving more children opportunities in STEM. Are we a business that sells such opportunity? Yes. And are we an inexpensive camp at that? No. ( We don't cut costs when it comes to providing the most impactful summer experiences imaginable for your children. We invest in the best locations, instructors, and tech products so you can invest in your child's future.)

But, did you know that we also reserve 10% or 7,000 seats for underprivileged students to better serve a wider breadth of families?

Getting back to your child and STEM-what will it take for your child to become the next Susan Wojcicki or Jeff Bezos?

Well first, it takes foresight. All of these individuals took advantage of the opportunities that were presented, sometimes even moving across the country to become early players in the tech boom!

Next, it takes exposure. As these stories show, a lot can stem from a curious mind or an entrepreneurial spirit. While everyday schooling may not be the best at fostering such interests, summer programs like iD Tech provide children with the perfect opportunity to explore new interests or further develop existing ones-all in an environment that is fun and exciting.

Lastly, it takes internal Drive (what the "i" and "D" stand for in iD Tech), and the mindset that anyone can be successful with enough motivation.

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How Early Childhood STEM Exposure Influenced Today's Tech Giants

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If you Google "effects of early STEM education," you will find pages of articles outlining the positive lasting effects of exposing your child to STEM concepts early, and throughout their development. Governments and school boards are continuing to focus more of their attention on STEM, and enrollment in STEM education programs has skyrocketed.

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Thinking. The capacity to reflect, reason, and draw conclusions based on our experiences, knowledge, and insights. It's what makes us human and has enabled us to communicate, create, build, advance, and become civilized. Thinking encompasses so many aspects of who our children are and what they do, from observing, learning, remembering, questioning, and judging to innovating, arguing, deciding, and acting.

There is also little doubt that all of the new technologies, led by the internet, are shaping the way we think in ways obvious and subtle, deliberate and unintentional, and advantageous and detrimental The uncertain reality is that, with this new technological frontier in its infancy and developments emerging at a rapid pace, we have neither the benefit of historical hindsight nor the time to ponder or examine the value and cost of these advancements in terms of how it influences our children's ability to think.

There is, however, a growing body of research that technology can be both beneficial and harmful to different ways in which children think. Moreover, this influence isn't just affecting children on the surface of their thinking. Rather, because their brains are still developing and malleable, frequent exposure by so-called digital natives to technology is actually wiring the brain in ways very different than in previous generations.

What is clear is that, as with advances throughout history, the technology that is available determines how our brains develop. For example, as the technology writer Nicholas Carr has observed, the emergence of reading encouraged our brains to be focused and imaginative. In contrast, the rise of the internet is strengthening our ability to scan information rapidly and efficiently.

The effects of technology on children are complicated, with both benefits and costs. Whether technology helps or hurts in the development of your children's thinking depends on what specific technology is used and how and what frequency it is used. At least early in their lives, the power to dictate your children's relationship with technology and, as a result, its influence on them, from synaptic activity to conscious thought.

Over the next several weeks, I'm going to focus on the areas in which the latest thinking and research has shown technology to have the greatest influence on how children think: attention, information overload, decision making, and memory/learning. Importantly, all of these areas are ones in which you can have a counteracting influence on how technology affects your children.

Attention

You can think of attention as the gateway to thinking. Without it, other aspects of thinking, namely, perception, memory, language, learning, creativity, reasoning, problem-solving, and decision making are greatly diminished or can't occur at all. The ability of your children to learn to focus effectively and consistently lays the foundation for almost all aspects of their growth and is fundamental to their development into successful and happy people.

Attention has been found to be a highly malleable quality and most directly influenced by the environment in which it is used. This selective attention can be found in the animal kingdom in which different species develop attentional skills that help them function and survive. For example, wolves, lions, tigers, and other predators have highly tuned visual attention that enables them to spot and track their prey. In contrast, their prey, including deer and antelope, have well-developed auditory attention that allows them to hear approaching predators. In both cases, animals' attentional abilities have developed based on the environment in which they live.

The same holds true for human development. Whether infant recognition of their parents' faces or students paying attention in class, children's immediate environment determines the kind of attention that they develop. In generations past, for example, children directed considerable amounts of their time to reading, an activity that offered few distractions and required intense and sustained attention, imagination, and memory. The advent of television altered that attention by offering children visual stimuli, fragmented attention, and little need for imagination. Then the internet was invented and children were thrust into a vastly different environment in which, because distraction is the norm, consistent attention is impossible, imagination is unnecessary, and memory is inhibited.

Technology conditions the brain to pay attention to information very differently than reading. The metaphor that Nicholas Carr uses is the difference between scuba diving and jet skiing. Book reading is like scuba diving in which the diver is submerged in a quiet, visually restricted, slow-paced setting with few distractions and, as a result, is required to focus narrowly and think deeply on the limited information that is available to them. In contrast, using the internet is like jet skiing, in which the jet skier is skimming along the surface of the water at high speed, exposed to a broad vista, surrounded by many distractions, and only able to focus fleetingly on any one thing.

In fact, studies have shown that reading uninterrupted text results in faster completion and better understanding, recall, and learning than those who read text filled with hyperlinks and ads. Those who read a text-only version of a presentation, as compared to one that included video, found the presentation to be more engaging, informative, and entertaining, a finding contrary to conventional wisdom, to be sure. Additionally, contrary to conventional educational wisdom, students who were allowed internet access during class didn't recall the lecture nor did they perform as well on a test of the material as those who weren't "wired" during class. Finally, reading develops reflection, critical thinking, problem-solving, and vocabulary better than visual media.

Exposure to technology isn't all bad. Research shows that, for example, video games and other screen media improve visual-spatial capabilities, increase attentional ability, reaction times, and the capacity to identify details among clutter. Also, rather than making children stupid, it may just be making them different. For example, the ubiquitous use of internet search engines is causing children to become less adept at remembering things and more skilled at remembering where to find things. Given the ease with which information can be found these days, it only stands to reason that knowing where to look is becoming more important for children than actually knowing something. Not having to retain information in our brain may allow it to engage in more "higher-order" processing such as contemplation, critical thinking, and problem-solving.

What does all this mean for raising your children? The bottom line is that too much screen time and not enough other activities, such as reading, playing games, and good old unstructured and imaginative play, will result in your children having their brains wired in ways that may make them less, not more, prepared to thrive in this crazy new world of technology.

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How Technology Is Changing the Way Children Think and Focus

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Are your children prepared to think and focus for success in 21st-century life?

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Toddlers and Technology: A Guide for Responsible Introduction to Devic

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It's important to take the time to help your toddler develop a healthy, positive relationship with technology. Start with these tips

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YouTube is killing the comment sections on most videos featuring minors.

In response to pedophiles abusing the function, the Google-owned service has been disabling comments on tens of millions of videos featuring children, and will be "broadening the action" in the coming months, YouTube said in a Thursday blog post.

YouTube is specifically targeting videos that feature minors who could be "at risk of attracting predatory behavior." It's making exceptions for a "small number of creators" on the platform, who agreed to police their comment sections.

"These channels will be required to actively moderate their comments, beyond just using our moderation tools, and demonstrate a low risk of predatory behavior," YouTube said. "We will work with them directly and our goal is to grow this number over time as our ability to catch violative comments continues to improve."

The change will take place over several months, a YouTube spokesperson told PCMag in an email. "We understand that comments are an important way creators build and connect with their audiences, [but] we also know that this is the right thing to do to protect the YouTube community," the spokesperson added.

The overhaul comes as several major brands-including Nestle, Epic Games, Disney and AT&T-suspended advertising on YouTube. They bailed on the platform after a YouTube creator named Matt Watson posted a video (below) documenting how pedophiles can use the comment sections on videos featuring minors to exchange contact details and links to child porn. The same comment sections could also feature time stamps of when the minor in the video exposed their bare legs or backs.

To crack down on the problem, YouTube said on Thursday that it added a new computer algorithm that can better "identify and remove predatory comments" on the platform. "We accelerated its launch and now have a new comments classifier in place that is more sweeping in scope, and will detect and remove 2X more individual comments," it said.

YouTube also terminated certain YouTube channels that were attempting to endanger children. One, known as "FilthyFrankClips," appeared to be associated with a video instructing viewers how to commit suicide. The video was later found spliced into a cartoon for kids on YouTube.

YouTube acknowledged the upcoming changes will be dramatic, especially for video creators who specialize in content aimed at children and parents. But it appears the Google-owned service had to take action to regain the trust of advertisers.

"Videos that include minors and are at risk of predatory comments may receive limited or no ads," says a YouTube support document about the changes. "A small number of channels that we have identified as having a high level of risk for predatory comments will not be able to re-enable comments, even with moderation," the same document adds.

A larger question is whether YouTube's algorithms can successfully distinguish between videos featuring minors and those that show only adults. Some users on the internet are doubtful ( just look at Tumblr), and say YouTube is unfairly punishing video uploaders who've actively moderated their comment sections.

The comment section crack down has already ensnared the videos of YouTube creator, Matthew Tye, who posts about his life in China. "They have not only disabled the comment section on one of my videos, but all of my videos," he said in a YouTube posting. Although he has two daughters, Tye said they rarely appear in his YouTube videos, which he's previously been able to monetize through ads.

"When YouTube disables a comment section on a video, it makes it less likely for that video to be shared," he said, describing the impact of the change. "You are less apt to be put on the recommended videos."

So far, YouTube hasn't commented on how it'll address the accidental comment section take downs.
Editor's Note: This story has been updated with information on Matthew Tye's YouTube channel.

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YouTube Removes Comments on Videos Featuring Kids

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YouTube is killing the comment sections on most videos featuring minors. In response to pedophiles abusing the function, the Google-owned service has been disabling comments on tens of millions of videos featuring children, and will be "broadening the action" in the coming months, YouTube said in a Thursday blog post.

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How much do you know about the companies whose products or services you use or buy?

Does this knowledge influence what you buy and how you buy things?

In " Yes, You Can Be an Ethical Tech Consumer. Here's How.," Brian X. Chen writes about how many of the products we enjoy continue to create privacy, misinformation and workplace issues:

It has never felt worse to be a technology consumer. So what can you do about it?

That's the question of the year after many of the biggest tech companies were mired in scandal after scandal or exposed as having committed necessary evils to offer the products and services that we have so blissfully enjoyed.

Those instant Amazon deliveries? They sure are convenient, but Amazon warehouse workers in Europe protested the company during Black Friday, describing their working conditions as inhuman.

You might have considered deleting Facebook after the social network confessed that Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm, had improperly obtained the data of millions of users. If that didn't convince you, maybe the security breach exposing the data of 30 million Facebook accounts did.

Google also came under fire, from its own employees, for working on a censored version of its search engine for China and for protecting executives who were accused of sexual misconduct.

All of this bad behavior circles back to you. We are the buyers, users and supporters of the products and services that help Big Tech thrive.

So what do we do at this point to become more ethical consumers?

"I think this is an incredibly powerful question to ask," said Jim Steyer, chief executive of Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that focuses on technology's impact on families. "It's a very important moment where consumer behavior can have a transformational impact."

The article explores several ways to become more empowered, socially responsible tech consumers, including boycotting and shaming:

First and foremost, when tech does you wrong, one of the most powerful ways to protest is to take your business elsewhere and ask your friends and family to go along.

Last year, hundreds of thousands of customers abandoned Uber in favor of alternatives like Lyft after the ride-hailing company's many scandals, including repeated accusations that it turned a blind eye to sexual harassment. That choice became a movement known as #DeleteUber. This year, people frustrated with Facebook took part in a #DeleteFacebook campaign.

The financial impact of these actions may not have been huge. Uber continues to grow (while still losing money) as it marches toward an initial public offering. Facebook has reported increased profits, though its user growth has slowed.

Even so, damage to a brand may have plenty of repercussions because it motivates the company to change its behavior, Mr. Steyer said. Both Uber and Facebook, facing enormous pressure, have modified some of their practices and committed to improvements.

"Sometimes shame is one of the most important arrows in your quiver," Mr. Steyer said.

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:
- Are you an ethical consumer? How much do you know about the companies whose products you buy? Does your knowledge factor into your consumer choices?

- How concerned are you about the behavior of tech companies? Which example from the article concerns you most? Tell us why?

- Do we as consumers bear any responsibility for the behavior of companies whose products we buy or use? Does buying a product mean you condone the actions of its seller?

- Which of the author's recommendations do you think is the most practical or effective? Which is the least? Does the article persuade you to be a more ethical consumer? In what ways might you change your consumer behavior?
Students 13 and older are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

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How much do you know about the companies whose products or services you use or buy? Does this knowledge influence what you buy and how you buy things? In " Yes, You Can Be an Ethical Tech Consumer. Here's How.," Brian X.

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Last month, 145 million Americans discovered they were victims of one of the biggest data breaches in history, after the credit rating agency Equifax was hacked.

Social security numbers, birth dates, telephone numbers and, in some cases, driver's licence and credit card numbers were exposed, leaving people vulnerable to identity theft and fraud.

Companies know more about individuals than they ever have. And almost every week there is news of a data hack.

So does this mean that the age of personal privacy is over?

BBC World Service's The Inquiry programme has been hearing the views of four experts.

'Database of ruin'

"Technology has created enormous conveniences for us, but there is no reason why those conveniences have to inevitably come at the cost of giving up our privacy wholesale," says Ben Wizner, of the American Civil Liberties Union, who is chief legal adviser to the US intelligence leaker Edward Snowdon.

Mr Wizner says people should be able to control information held on them, as well as with whom they share it.

"It is now both technologically and financially feasible for corporations and governments to collect and store records of almost all of our activities, records that never would have existed in the past," he says.

All of this - whether harvested from the web, mobile phones or social media - creates vast amounts of data from consumers, held by corporations.

And with the advent of smart appliances, this will only increase.

"You will be watching your television, your television will be watching you."

And he has concerns about agreements meant to safeguard consumers' data.

"It is literally impossible for consumers to read all of those agreements. What we all do instead is we click "agree". In legal terms, we have consented. In meaningful terms, have we consented?"

Personal information, Mr Wizner says, allows corporations to make highly accurate predictions about a person's life, including their sexuality and any health problems they may have.

"I think that we hear all too often this sort of blase remark that 'I don't need to be worried about surveillance because I've done nothing wrong and I have nothing to hide.'

"For every single one of us, there is some pile of aggregated data that exists, the publication of which would cause us enormous harm and, in some cases, even professional and personal ruin.

"Every single one of us has a database of ruin."

The post-privacy economy

Former Amazon chief scientist Andreas Weigend says the time has come to recognise that privacy is now an illusion.

He grew up in West Germany, where his family moved following his father's release from prison in East Germany, where he had been a political prisoner.

Later, he discovered that, though his father's Stasi files had been destroyed, the secret police had opened a file on him, in 1986, when he was a graduate student in the US.

Though he felt vulnerable after this revelation, his views on privacy are clear.

"I have realised that even if you were a privacy zealot, you don't have a chance.

"Data is being created as we breathe, as we live, and it is too hard a battle to try to live without creating data.

"And that is a starting point: that you assume that we do live in a post-privacy economy."

Indeed, he has just written a book called Data For the People: How to Make Our Post-Privacy Economy Work for You.

Or daily lives, he says, constantly lead to the creation of new data: from phones, credit cards, public transport systems and more.

"I think we don't have the time in the day to know everything that's being created about us.

"On the other hand, we don't want companies to just scoop up all the data that we create and never tell us anything about it."

He believes we should embrace the fact we're creating lots of data, because we get better products and services in return.

"Every battle we should fight now is, 'And what can we, as individuals, as citizens, get out of the data which we create?'

"Having new technologies means that we need to think about what actually does 'privacy' mean. So, it's time to actually redefine privacy."

But Mr Weigend isn't willing to let go of all privacy. There is "no way", for instance, he would publish his browsing history.

"I think our browsing histories are way more personal than what we share with our partners.

"Our most secret questions in our mind, our most secret desires, they end up at Google and where Google takes us."

His message to people concerned about privacy is simple.

"Think about your computer security, think about your passwords, think about just how lax, probably, your own personal security is."

And he believes that people's views on privacy will change, just as things have already changed.

"What the KGB wouldn't have gotten out of people under torture, now people knowingly and willingly publish on Facebook."

Naked on the net

Svea Eckert is an investigative reporter for Germany's national broadcaster, ARD. Last year she decided to adopt a fake name and set up a fake company, complete with its own website.

Her target? Detailed information showing which web pages individuals had visited, offered for sale by companies who gather data about people's internet use.

She and a colleague eventually gained access to a month's worth of de-anonymised browsing records of about 20 people, all in high-profile positions.

The URLs pointed to details of a criminal investigation, a senior executive's complete financial records, a judge's daily porn viewing habits and the browsing histories of politicians.

The subjects were shocked when shown the data held about them.

It emerged that all this data had come from a browser plug-in that these users had installed.

Ms Eckert says it wasn't legal for the data to be sold but there has been no action against the company selling it, because it was based outside the EU.

And she is concerned at how smaller marketing companies were able to sell this sensitive data but may not have had the money available to wealthy corporations to protect themselves from hackers.

"I think at the moment we are living in a time which is like the time was when people were not wearing seatbelts in the car."

A future with less data?

"The beauty of what's been occurring in the past year or two," says Gus Hosein, head of Privacy International, a global non-governmental organisation campaigning for privacy, "has been that some of the companies who are core now to the delivery of the internet as we know it have taken security and privacy much more seriously.

"What is disappointing is that below the waterline, below what we can see, some of these companies have doubled-down or tripled-down on the extent to which they are grabbing data and doing things with that data without you ever being able to see."

But he thinks there is a limit to how much individual behaviour can achieve in securing online privacy.

"Almost every positive move that Facebook and Google and the other large companies have taken, particularly the data companies... has been as a result of regulatory pressure."

Most technology companies are based in the US where, he says, lobbyists have prevented regulations from being imposed.

That lobbying influence has proven less effective in Europe, where a new law, the General Data Protection Regulation, designed to increase safeguards on the storage and handling of personal data, is due to come into effect next year.

"My worry is that we'll become desensitised and we'll become quite resigned to the fact that, 'Yeah, our data is harvested, and, yeah, I guess it is not secure, and, yeah, I guess any criminal who wanted to can get access to it.'

"The defence of privacy will be the saviour of the future, essentially."

The Inquiry: Is privacy dead? was broadcast on Thursday 5 October. Listen online or download the podcast.

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Last month, 145 million Americans discovered they were victims of one of the biggest data breaches in history, after the credit rating agency Equifax was hacked. Social security numbers, birth dates, telephone numbers and, in some cases, driver's licence and credit card numbers were exposed, leaving people vulnerable to identity theft and fraud.