PRIVACY PARADOX: A STUDY AMONG THE YOUTH IN THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Abstract

The concept of a “privacy paradox”, initially formulated by Susan Barnes (2006) to define the perplexing divide between privacy-concerned adults and self-disclosing digital teenagers has evolved to incorporate discrepancies between individual attitudes and behavior when it comes to (online) privacy. Review found that the issue of privacy online is itself not extensively researched, at least in comparison to other matters of public concern. As a relatively recent concept (the online aspect anyway), there is limited trend data available to track how public attitudes and actions on online data privacy have changed over the years. There are gaps in the evidence in terms of the views of different groups in society – including ethnic minority communities and disabled people. Meanwhile terminology is applied different across different studies; and much of the evidence is based on people’s personal perceptions, rather than more objective measures. More and better evidence will be required in the future, to help inform our approach to these issues.