Discovery · Systems Project 10
Guarding Your Information
It takes fewer clues than you think to work out who someone is.
Student PIN:
Try It — How Many Clues Does It Take?
Your teacher is going to describe somebody in a story — not anyone in the room — one clue at a time.
Put your hand up the moment you think you could pick that person out of a crowd. Then count how many clues it took.
| Question | My answer |
|---|---|
| How many clues before I was sure? | |
| Which clue narrowed it down the most? | |
| Was any single clue enough on its own? |
No Single Clue Gave It Away
Hair colour on its own tells you almost nothing. Neither does a town, or a school, or a birthday.
Put four of them together and there is usually only one person left. That is how information about you works. Each piece looks harmless on its own.
Sort it yourself
Which of these would you happily tell a stranger, and which would you not?
| This information | Fine to share? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| My favourite colour | ||
| The name of my school | ||
| My birthday | ||
| A photo of my street | ||
| My favourite animal |
Two of those are riskier than they look. Which two, and what could someone work out from them?
Learn It — What to Keep, and How
is anything that could be used to work out who you are, where you are, or how to reach you. Usually safe to share Things that describe your taste, not your life
Keep to yourself Things that lead someone to you
Four rules that cover most of it
- Share private things only with people you actually know and trust.
- Never post anything you would mind being seen by everybody.
- Do not over-share. Fewer clues is always safer.
- Do not post where you are. Not your address, and not a photo that shows it.
The Internet Does Not Forget
Something deleted has usually already been copied, saved, or screenshotted by somebody. The safest moment to protect information is before you post it.
Phishing
is when a message pretends to be from someone you trust so that you hand over information without thinking.
It usually looks like an email or a message from a real company, a game, or even a friend. The signs are nearly always the same.
| Warning sign | Why it works |
|---|---|
| “Act now or your account closes” | Panic stops people checking |
| “You have won a prize” | Excitement stops people checking |
| Asks for a password or a code | No real company ever does this |
| Spelling mistakes, odd address | Real companies proofread |
| A link that looks nearly right | One changed letter is easy to miss |
⚠ The One Rule That Always Works
If a message asks for private information, do not answer it — even if it looks real. Show it to a parent or your teacher instead.
You will never get in trouble for checking with an adult first.
Passwords
A is the lock on everything else. A weak one takes seconds to guess.
These are practice examples only. Never reuse them for a real account.
12345— weak: Short and everyone tries it first.password— weak: Another guess people try immediately.Rufus2015— weak: A pet name and a year someone could look up about you.correct-horse-battery-staple— stronger example: A long, memorable passphrase made of unrelated words. Length and uniqueness matter more than sprinkling in a single symbol.
What makes a password or passphrase stronger for you:
- Longer is usually stronger. A memorable phrase with several words is easier to remember and harder to guess than a short word with one number stuck on.
- Unique matters. Do not reuse one password everywhere. One break-in can then open everything else.
- Ask a trusted adult before choosing passwords for school or shared accounts. A password manager (with an adult’s help) can store long unique secrets so you do not have to memorize dozens.
- Extra checks help. Many accounts offer a second step after the password (a code, an app prompt, or another check). That second step is often called multifactor authentication — it means a stolen password alone is not enough.
Do not invent, type, exchange, or guess a password you actually use. This lesson only uses clearly marked fictional examples.
⚠ This Includes Your Robot
Your Wombat has a password. Do not share it outside your team unless your teacher says so. Somebody with it could change or delete every program you have written.
Do It — Find the Leaks
1. Where does information get out?
As a class, list the places and moments where somebody might get information about you. Write down five here.
| Where or when | What could be given away |
|---|---|
Most classes end up with: someone asking you directly, shopping sites, social media, any site with a login, and photos that show more than you meant.
2. Write the class definition of phishing
On your own first, without looking back: what do you think phishing is?
Now compare with a partner, then agree one definition as a class.
Our class definition:
3. Spot the fake
For each message, decide whether it is safe or phishing, and say what gave it away.
| The message says | Safe or phishing? | What gave it away |
|---|---|---|
| “Your game account will be deleted in 24 hours unless you confirm your password here.” | ||
| “Hi, this is your school. Parents evening is on Thursday at 6pm.” | ||
| “CONGRATULATIONS!! You are our 1000th visiter! Click to claim your free tablet.” | ||
| “Hey it’s me, I lost my phone — what’s your address again? I’ll come round.” |
The last one comes from someone you know. Does that make it safe?
4. Compare fictional passwords (do not invent a real one)
Do not write a password you actually use. Do not invent one to save, swap, or guess with a partner.
Use only these fictional classroom examples (never reuse them):
| Example | Notes |
|---|---|
kit | Very short |
BlueSky | Short and easy to guess |
orange-river-candle-maple | Longer memorable passphrase |
Talk with a partner about the examples above — without typing any real secret.
| Check (about the fictional examples) | Yes or no |
|---|---|
| Is the longest example clearly longer than the short ones? | |
| Could somebody who knows you still guess a short example like BlueSky? | |
| Would reusing one short example on every site be risky? |
A trusted adult or a password manager can help store long unique passwords. A second login check (multifactor authentication) adds another layer when it is available.
5. What would you do?
Work through these with a partner. There is no trick — just say what you would do and why.
Scenario 1
You are at the library with a parent. A member of staff walks over and asks for your birthday. What do you do?
Scenario 2
You left your lunch at home again. Your teacher asks for your parent’s mobile number so they can call. What do you do?
Scenario 3
A free game site at school asks for your address. It says the field is optional. What do you do?
Scenario 4
You need a password for a school blog. You are thinking of using 12345. Is that a good idea?
Scenario 5
Someone in your group says they know how to switch off the school’s firewall to reach a blocked site. What do you do?
Scenario 6
A family member has left their account logged in on a shared computer and has gone out. What do you do?
Scenario 7
You need a new password but you already have one you remember. You know you should not reuse it. What do you do?
Two of Those Are About Trust, Not Rules
Scenarios 1 and 2 both involve an adult asking for real information — and the answers are different. Working out why they are different is the whole point.
6. Match the locks
Every protection has a real-world twin. Match them up.
| In the real world | The digital version is… |
|---|---|
| A key on your front door | |
| A fence with a gate and a guard | |
| A spare copy of your photos at your grandparents’ house | |
| Shredding old letters before you bin them | |
| Writing a note in a code only your friend knows |
7. Protect your own work
Everything you have built this season is worth protecting too.
| Question | My answer |
|---|---|
| Where is my file backed up? | |
| Who outside my team knows the robot’s password? | |
| If the Wombat were wiped today, what would I lose? |
Score It — Checkpoint
Share or keep?
| Someone online asks for… | Share or keep? |
|---|---|
| Your favourite band | |
| Your home address | |
| The password to your school account | |
| Your favourite kind of pizza | |
| A photo of you outside your house with the number showing |
Strong or weak?
| Password | Strong or weak? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| qwerty | ||
| Fluffy2014 | ||
| orange-river-candle-maple (fictional example — never reuse) |
Can you do it again?
Think about it
In Try It, no single clue identified anyone. Why does that make sharing “just one small thing” harder to judge than it sounds?
A phishing message works by making you feel something — panic, excitement, sympathy. Why do those feelings make people skip checking?
A longer unique passphrase is safer but harder to remember without help. What is the trade between safe and easy, and where would you draw the line?
Next
Protecting your own information is half of it. The other half is how you treat everybody else’s.
In Systems Project 11 — Living Well Online, you look at what your words do once they leave your hands.
When you are finished, press the button to turn in your work and save a copy.
KIPR · Botball Explorer · Discovery