Youth Digital Privacy Practices With People and Corporations: Predictors for Privacy Behaviors and Beliefs

• In Event: Youth and Online Participation: New Perspectives on Ubiquitous Practices

Abstract

Connected technologies are an integral part of youth culture, but they come with surveillance risks that are not well understood by education stakeholders and scholars. The present study explores adolescents’ (11 to 14 year olds; n=414) digital privacy practices, beliefs, and preferences around person-to-corporation and person-to-person privacy management online. Findings from an online survey administered to two middle schools suggest youth engage in more overall person-to-person privacy protection behaviors, compared to person-to-corporation privacy protection behaviors. Student characteristics, along with beliefs and preferences, were predictive of different privacy behaviors. The findings from this study address important gaps in youths’ digital privacy negotiation across contexts, with the potential to shape how schools approach media literacy focused on privacy.

Authors

• Allison Starks, University of California - Irvine

• Adriana Manago, University of California - Santa Cruz

• Nicholas Santer, University of California - Santa Cruz

• Stephanie Reich, University of California - Irvine