A new privacy paradox? Youth agentic practices of privacy management despite 'nothing to hide' online
Date
2018-07-02
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc.
Abstract
Focus groups conducted with Canadian teenagers examining their perceptions and experiences with cyber-risk, center on various privacy strategies geared for impression management across popular social network sites. We highlight privacy concerns as a primary reason for a gravitation away from Facebook towards newer, more popular sites such as Instagram and Snapchat, as well as debates about the permeability of privacy on Snapchat in particular. The privacy paradox identifies a disjuncture between what is said about privacy and what is done in practice. It refers to declarations from youth that they are highly concerned for privacy, yet frequently disregard privacy online through ‘oversharing’ and neglecting privacy management. However, our participants, especially older teens, invoked a different mindset: that they have ‘nothing to hide’ online and therefore do not consider privacy relevant for them. Despite this mindset, the strategies we highlight suggest a new permutation of the privacy paradox, rooted in a pragmatic adaptation to the technological affordances of social network sites, and wider societal acquiescence to the debasement of privacy online.
Description
Keywords
Youth and cyber-risk, privacy paradox, nothing to hide, social network sites, focus groups
Citation
Adorjan, M., Ricciardelli, R. (2019). A new privacy paradox? Youth agentic practices of privacy management despite 'nothing to hide' online. [Preprint]. Canadian Review of Sociology [cited 2018 July 9].