English Refresher

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English Refresher · CEFR C1 · Unit 5

Digital Identity & Online Privacy

Talk about surveillance and data, and learn to build a fair, two-sided argument before taking a stance. Practice, check your answers instantly, and study the flashcards.

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1
Speaking

Living Online

What to do: Work in pairs or small groups. Discuss the questions and try to present both sides before deciding. There is no score — speak, listen, and argue fairly.
Audio 1Listen to an example
Listen to someone weigh up their own digital footprint — notice the two-sided language — then share your view.

Talk about it

  • What does "digital identity" mean to you? How much of yourself is online right now?
  • Would you give up some privacy for more convenience or safety? Argue both sides first.
  • Do you ever feel watched online? Is that feeling reasonable, or a bit paranoid?
Argue both sides with these:
While some argue that…Admittedly…It could be said that…That said…Nonetheless…On balance, I believe…
Featured Reading

Who Owns Your Digital Identity?

Read the full interactive essay and do the comprehension quiz before you debate.

Read it →
2
Reading

You Are the Product

What to do: Read this short extract from the unit essay. Then answer the questions and tap Check Answers. (Read the full article using the link above!)

There's an old saying online: if you're not paying for the product, you are the product. The apps we use for "free" are not really free at all — we pay with our data: every tap, search and pause quietly recorded. Together, that trail forms our digital footprint, and it is more revealing than most of us realize.

Many people shrug this off: "I've nothing to hide." But the writer pushes back. Privacy, she argues, was never really about hiding wrongdoing. It's about control — about deciding who gets to know what.

1. The price of a "free" app or service is often your ______.
2. The trail of everything you do online is your digital ______.
3. Why does the writer challenge the "nothing to hide" idea?
3
Listening

"Nothing to Hide"?

What to do: Listen two times. Then complete the sentences and answer the questions. Notice how one speaker changes the other's mind.
Audio 2Omar and Lena discuss privacy

Omar: Honestly, I don't get the panic about privacy. I've got nothing to hide, so the tracking doesn't bother me.

Lena: I used to think that too. But would you hand a stranger your unlocked phone? Privacy isn't about hiding wrongdoing; it's about control.

Omar: Fair point. Although, to be fair, I do get useful things in return — recommendations, free apps.

Lena: True, and that's the clever part. We pay with data instead of money, so it doesn't feel like a cost. But the data outlives the convenience.

Omar: So what, you'd pay for everything instead?

Lena: Not necessarily. I'd just like the choice to be honest — and to be able to say no.

1. Omar starts by saying he has nothing to ______.
2. Lena says privacy isn't about hiding wrongdoing; it's about ______.
3. Lena points out that we pay with ______ instead of money.
4. How does Omar's view change during the talk?
5. What does Lena ultimately want?
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Vocabulary

The Right Word

What to do: Complete each sentence with a term from the unit. Spelling counts. Tap Check Answers when you're done.
1. Watching and recording people's activity, often by cameras or software, is ______.
2. When hackers steal a company's stored user information, it's a data ______.
3. The trail of data left by your online activity is your digital ______.
4. Technology that identifies a person from their face is ______ ______ (two words).
5. A deliberate break from screens and the internet is a digital ______.
5
Privacy

Smart or Risky Habit?

What to do: Which habits protect your privacy, and which expose you? Tap a card to move it (first box, then second box, then back), then tap Check Answers.
Smart for privacy
Risky for privacy
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Structure

Build the Sentence

What to do: Tap the chunks in the correct order to build an advanced sentence (a two-sided opener and a cleft). Tap a chunk in your answer to send it back. Then tap Check Answers.

1. A two-sided opener:

2. A cleft sentence (for emphasis):

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Writing

A Two-Sided Opinion Essay

What to do: Write a 150–200-word opinion essay on the title below. Use the classic C1 structure: introduction, one paragraph for, one paragraph against, then a clear conclusion. There is no automatic score; use the checklist.

Essay title

  • "Privacy is dead. Get over it." — How far do you agree?
Model opening: "We are constantly told that privacy is a thing of the past — a quaint idea that the smartphone quietly killed. While there is some truth to this, the claim deserves more scrutiny than it usually gets. Yes, we leak data with every tap; and yes, most of us clicked 'agree' without reading a word. Nonetheless, to conclude that privacy is therefore worthless is to confuse 'difficult to protect' with 'not worth protecting'."
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Vocabulary

Flashcards

What to do: Tap a card to reveal the meaning and an example. These are the key terms for this unit and the reading.
surveillancenountap to reveal
close watching of people, often by cameras or software"Cities are full of surveillance cameras."
a data breachnountap to reveal
when stored personal data is stolen or exposed"The data breach exposed millions of accounts."
a digital footprintnountap to reveal
the trail of data left by your online activity"Your digital footprint is hard to erase."
two-factor authenticationnountap to reveal
a second security step beyond a password"Turn on two-factor authentication for your email."
end-to-end encryptionnountap to reveal
coding messages so only sender and receiver can read them"The app uses end-to-end encryption."
facial recognitionnountap to reveal
technology that identifies a person from their face"Facial recognition unlocks the phone."
metadatanountap to reveal
data about data: when, where and how, not the content"Even metadata can reveal a lot about you."
targeted advertisingnountap to reveal
ads aimed at you based on your data"Targeted advertising follows you across sites."
a digital detoxnountap to reveal
a deliberate break from screens and the internet"She does a digital detox every weekend."
incognito modenountap to reveal
private browsing that doesn't save local history"Incognito mode hides less than people think."

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