Digital Privacy Protection Research Articles

Digital privacy and data protection knowledge and skills of university students in Croatia: Preliminary findings

University students as members of Generation Z (late 1990s and early 2000s) have rich experience in living the digital life. Previous studies show that Generation Z cares about their privacy and is more apt than older generations to implement complex privacy and security measures, but they are also more willing to compromise their privacy if they see any benefit. The aim of this research was to examine digital privacy protection attitudes, knowledge and skills of university students in Croatia. Obtained results suggest that respondents appreciate their digital privacy, have a cautious attitude toward protecting their data and are self-initiative regarding learning about digital privacy. However, their knowledge about digital privacy is not comprehensive and uniform, nor are their strategies of digital privacy protection. Privacy protection on social networks gives a better impression, which can be connected with the practice of frequent use of social networks and the need to maintain a certain image online. The above is also supported by data that the majority of respondents consider the publication of content in which they appear without their consent to be a very serious violation of their privacy. Furthermore, 65% of respondents would like to receive additional education on digital privacy.

The “digital village” revisited, or the re-ruralization of the public and private spheres in contemporary digitality

This article aims to make a theoretical contribution to clarify the societal impact of the reorganization of public and private in the digital age. Drawing on the spatial-sociological approach of German sociologist HP Bahrdt, the discussion is guided by the thesis that the specific dynamics of privacy risk attributed to the digital revolution pre-date the digitized age, specifically in rural environments. The analogy between rurality and digitality is used to illustrate why the increasing blurring of public and private through transparency potentials—along with the accompanying convergence of social contacts (characteristic of both rural and digital space)—threatens not only individual privacy but also democratization by violating forms of individual freedom that are constitutive of a critical public realm. Therefore, this article serves as a call to understand digital privacy protection as one of the pressing challenges of our time.

The Pivotal Role of DPAs in Digital Privacy Protection

With the widespread use of the Internet in both personal and professional life, data protection has become a critical aspect of privacy protection. The mechanisms developed in administrative law are the main tools for personal data protection in modern societies. Within the European integration process, the Republic of Serbia has established an independent data protection authority (DPA) that supervises and ensures the implementation of data protection rules, conducts inspections, acts on complaints of persons to whom the data relates, and determines whether there has been a violation of the law. This paper commences with an analysis of international legal instruments imposing a duty to establish an independent data protection supervisory authority. It goes on to further analyze the main characteristics of the national data protection system, the personal, territorial, and material scope of its application, as well as specific rights of data subjects. The efficient protection of digital privacy primarily depends on the investigative powers of the independent supervisory authority, which are also analyzed in detail. Given the global character of the Internet, the protection of personal data also depends on efficient cooperation among DPAs, the extraterritorial application of data protection rules, and adequate regulation of international transfer of personal data.

How Do Socio-Demographic Patterns Define Digital Privacy Divide?

Digital privacy has become an essential component of information and communications technology (ICT) systems. There are many existing methods for digital privacy protection, including network security, cryptography, and access control. However, there is still a gap in the digital privacy protection levels available for users. This paper studies the digital privacy divide (DPD) problem in ICT systems. First, we introduce an online DPD study for understanding the DPD problem by collecting responses from 776 ICT users using crowdsourcing task assignments. Second, we propose a factor analysis-based statistical method for generating the DPD index from a set of observable DPD question variables. In particular, the DPD index provides one scaled measure for the DPD gap by exploring the dimensionality of the eight questions in the DPD survey. Third, we introduce a DPD proportional odds model for analyzing the relationship between the DPD status and the socio-demographic patterns of the users. Our results show that the DPD survey meets the internal consistency reliability with rigorous statistical measures, e.g., Cronbach's $\alpha=0.92$. Furthermore, the DPD index is shown to capture the underlying communality of all DPD variables. Finally, the DPD proportional odds model indicates a strong statistical correlation between the DPD status and the age groups of the ICT users. For example, we find that young users (15-32 years) are generally more concerned about their digital privacy than senior ones (33 years and over).

Anxiety about electronic data hacking

PurposeDespite concerns about digital privacy, little is known about emotional distress about data hacking and surveillance incidents. The purpose of this paper is to examine variables predicting anxiety about data hacking, and the role that such anxiety and other potentially important variables have in explaining the use of digital privacy protection behavior.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 305 participants from an online labor market were sampled who frequently use the internet, surveyed about recent anxiety (using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale (GAD-7)), anxiety about data hacking (GAD-7, in reference to data hacking), and issues of digital privacy: news exposure, perceived importance, self-efficacy, protection behavior, and previous hacking victimization.FindingsProfession (information technology-related) moderated the symptom structure for recent anxiety, but not data hacking anxiety. Using structural equation modeling, prior hacking victimization predicted anxiety about hacking. Digital privacy protection behavior was related to hacking anxiety and privacy self-efficacy. Data hacking anxiety mediated relations between hacking victimization and privacy protection. Privacy self-efficacy mediated relations between news exposure to hacking incidents and privacy protection.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations include the self-report nature of the instruments, and use of a selective, non-random sample.Practical implicationsResults highlight knowledge, self-efficacy, and threat appraisal among IT managers in motivating better digital security practices.Originality/valueThis is the first study using a standardized instrument of anxiety to examine distress about hacking and predictors of digital privacy protection behavior.

Information transparency and digital privacy protection: are they mutually exclusive in the provision of e‐services?

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to develop and validate a model to analyze the inter‐relationship between information transparency and the protection of digital privacy of customers, from the perspective of e‐services providers.Design/methodology/approachA total of 320 questionnaires were sent out to all e‐banking service providers in the Guangdong province in China in 2004 and 150 useable questionnaires were collected. The response rate was 46.9 percent.FindingsThe paper identifies three types of digital privacy: information, communication and individual privacy. The findings show that e‐service marketers who adopt a more open information transparency policy are more likely to pay attention to customers' information and communication privacy, but less to their individual privacy.Practical implicationsE‐services providers need to be very careful about the necessity to be transparent in information sharing, but at the same time, have to be well aware of the need of the protection of individual privacy of their customers. Unfortunately, at times they may be too aggressive in adopting an open information transparency policy that may upset their customers by intruding into their individual privacy.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to a more comprehensive conceptualization of digital privacy not only by identifying three generic types of privacy (information, communication and individual), but also by looking into the relationship between information transparency and these three generic types of privacy. This study shows that, unlike the first two types of privacy, individual privacy of customers is given less concern by most e‐service providers.

Strategic and Ethical Considerations in Managing Digital Privacy

Individualized customer information is at the heart of on-line commerce. Using increasing amounts of customer-specific data enhances the success and value of one-to-one on-line marketing; but the extensive gathering and use of data specific to individuals also causes alarm over the loss of digital privacy, setting up a confrontation between e-commerce and society. Governments and nations, particularly in Europe, have reacted with a reliance on sweeping laws governing digital privacy protection while other nations such as the U.S. have generally preferred to allow companies and industry associations to regulate themselves. This tenuous balance is under attack from both sides. In this paper, we set up a framework which incorporates the environmental context, ethical perspectives and firm-specific considerations to help firms develop a strategy for handling digital privacy concerns.