Perception of Privacy and Sensitivity of Personal Information among University Students

Abstract

By studying the awareness level of students, for the need to protect personal information, and also by studying students’ level of perception as to which information needs protection, this study aims to show that increased education is beneficial, and necessary, across all university majors. This increased education is necessary to improve information security, and increase the responsible sharing of private data which has many benefits, specifically in the Healthcare field. Utilizing student volunteers across multiple majors at a university in South Korea. These questionnaires measured the students’ awareness of private information, their perception of private information and also the students’ experience in receiving university level education regarding private information and the need for its protection. This study shows that, when compared to students in other fields, students in the field of public health had a higher level of awareness regarding the consequences of personal information disclosure for both public purposes and medical research. Within the parameters of this study, this outcome can be explained as the result of exposure to educational curriculum which contained information related to personal information protection. This increased education raised the student’s awareness of which information is considered private, as well as, which information is valuable when responsibly shared. As a result, this study shows that an increase in education regarding information privacy, should be included in all university majors, and gives us evidence to support that this additional education is valuable to students at all levels and should be encouraged.