Generational views of information privacy?

Abstract

This article investigates whether there are different attitudes about information and communication technologies and information privacy among members of different generations. Specifically we consider: do different generations experience information and communication technology-mediated environments in the same way or not? Are there disjunctures or continuities in the experience of privacy across one generation? Do different generations have dissimilar attitudes about what constitutes a privacy invasion and different levels of concern about such invasions? Or is privacy a concern that develops as one ages through her life cycle and becomes more invested in the social and economic world? In other words, is information privacy, instead, something of a middle-age concern? To answer these questions, we first review the literature on generational differences, as well as the literature on privacy attitudes and introduce a number of hypotheses. We then analyze responses to two survey questions that have been asked periodically over the last 30 years to determine whether there are age cohort and/or generational differences. From the data examined, it is difficult to speak with any authority on the question of whether familiarity with technology means that younger generations or age cohorts are less concerned about technology or whether as all generations and age groups become familiar with technology privacy concerns decrease over time. However we do identify some interesting patterns.