Online privacy concerns: A broad approach to understanding the concerns of different groups for different uses

Questions regarding personal privacy are becoming increasingly relevant, and the discussion continuously arises regarding what digital tracks we leave. Intrusive use and manipulation of personal information not only affect people’s behaviour, but also they could have important implications for political and civic society. Previous research has relied on convenience samples and has often focused on one or only a few areas of use. The presented study, based on a probability sample, gives an overall picture of how privacy concerns are perceived in different online contexts and how socio-demography, internet experience, trust, and political orientation contribute to the understanding of privacy concerns in different settings. The results clearly point to privacy concerns as being very diverse and dependent on the applications in question. All dimensions that are used to explain privacy concerns are partly supported in the study. But their explanatory powers differ and not all areas of concern are affected by the same explanatory factors. Trust in other people is the single most important factor explaining privacy concerns when using digital media and applications. The more people trust others, the less concern they have for misuse of personal information.

"...younger persons seem to be slightly more worried than are older people about privacy misuse on social network sites, and the opposite seems to be so for using debit cards." (Author, 422)