From social netizens to data citizens: variations of GDPR awareness in 28 European countries

Rughinis, Razvan and Rughinis, Cosima and Vulpe, Simona Nicoleta and Rosner, Daniel (2021): From social netizens to data citizens: variations of GDPR awareness in 28 European countries. Published in: Computer Law & Security Review , Vol. 42, (September 2021): p. 105585.

Abstract

We studied variability in General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) awareness in relation to digital experience in the 28 European countries of EU27-UK, through secondary analysis of the Eurobarometer 91.2 survey conducted in March 2019 (N = 27,524). Education, occupation, and age were the strongest sociodemographic predictors of GDPR awareness, with little influence of gender, subjective economic well-being, or locality size. Digital experience was significantly and positively correlated with GDPR awareness in a linear model, but this relationship proved to be more complex when we examined it through a typological analysis. Using an exploratory k-means cluster analysis we identified four clusters of digital citizenship, across both dimensions of digital experience and GDPR awareness: the off-line citizens (22%), the social netizens (32%), the web citizens (17%), and the data citizens (29%). The off-line citizens ranked lowest in internet use and GDPR awareness; the web citizens ranked at about average values, while the data citizens ranked highest in both digital experience and GDPR knowledge and use. The fourth identified cluster, the social netizens, had a discordant profile, with remarkably high social network use, below average online shopping experiences, and low GDPR awareness. Digitalization in human capital and general internet use is a strong country-level correlate of the national frequency of the data citizen type. Our results confirm previous studies of the low privacy awareness and skills associated with intense social media consumption, but we found that young generations are evenly divided between the rather carefree social netizens and the strongly invested data citizens. In order to achieve the full potential of the GDPR in changing surveillance practices while fostering consumer trust and responsible use of Big Data, policymakers should more effectively engage the digitally connected yet politically disconnected social netizens, while energizing the data citizens and the web citizens into proactive actions for defending the fundamental rights to private life and data protection.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Privacy awareness; data citizenship; GDPR; Eurobarometer survey; cluster analysis
• Subjects: Y - Miscellaneous Categories > Y8 - Related Disciplines > Y80 - Related Disciplines

References

Acquisti A, Adjerid I, Brandimarte L. Gone in 15 seconds: The limits of privacy transparency and control. IEEE Secur Priv. 2013;11(4):72–4.

Acquisti A, Brandimarte L, Loewenstein G. Privacy and human behavior in the age of information. Vol. 347, Science. American Association for the Advancement of Science; 2015. p. 509–14.

Becher SI, Benoliel U. Law in Books and Law in Action: The Readability of Privacy Policies and the GDPR. In: Consumer Law & Economics. Springer; 2020.

Braghin C, Vecchio M Del. Is Pokémon GO Watching You? A Survey on the Privacy-Awareness of Location-Based Apps’ Users. In: Proceedings - International Computer Software and Applications Conference. IEEE Computer Society; 2017. p. 164–9.

Brandimarte L, Acquisti A, Loewenstein G. Misplaced Confidences. Soc Psychol Personal Sci. 2013 May;4(3):340–7.

Calvo RA, Deterding S, Ryan RM. Health surveillance during covid-19 pandemic. BMJ. 2020 Apr;369:m1373.

Cheney-Lippold J. We Are Data: Algorithms and The Making of Our Digital Selves. New York: NYU Press; 2017.

Cuevas Á, Cabañas JG, Arrate A, Cuevas R. Does Facebook Use Sensitive Data for Advertising Purposes? Worldwide Analysis and GDPR Impact. 2019 .

Custers B, Dechesne F, Sears AM, Tani T, van der Hof S. A comparison of data protection legislation and policies across the EU. Comput Law Secur Rev. 2018 Apr;34(2):234–43.

Engels B. Digital First, Privacy Second? Digital Natives and Privacy Concerns. In: 17th International Conference e-Society 2019. 2019.

Eubanks V. Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor. New York: St. Martin’s Press; 2018.

European Commission. Eurobarometer 91.2. Kantar Public, GESIS Data Archive, Cologne. 2019.

European Commission, Kantar Public. Eurobarometer 91.2. ZA7562 Data file Version 1.0.0. Brussels: GESIS Data Archive; 2019.

European Council. Joint European Roadmap towards lifting COVID-19 containment measures. 2020.

Gerber N, Gerber P, Volkamer M. Explaining the privacy paradox: A systematic review of literature investigating privacy attitude and behavior. Vol. 77, Computers and Security. Elsevier Ltd; 2018. p. 226–61.

Goffman E. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life [Internet]. University Of E, editor. Teacher. Doubleday; 1959. (Anchor books; vol. 21). Available from: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0385094027

Gran AB, Booth P, Bucher T. To be or not to be algorithm aware: a question of a new digital divide? Inf Commun Soc. 2020.

Greenberg A. How Apple and Google Are Enabling Covid-19 Contact-Tracing. WIRED. 2020.

Hallinan D, Friedewald M, McCarthy P. Citizens’ perceptions of data protection and privacy in Europe. Comput Law Secur Rev. 2012 Jun;28(3):263–72.

Hu X, Sastry N. Characterising third party cookie usage in the EU after GDPR. In: WebSci 2019 - Proceedings of the 11th ACM Conference on Web Science. New York, New York, USA: Association for Computing Machinery, Inc; 2019. p. 137–41.

Kayes I, Iamnitchi A. Privacy and security in online social networks: A survey. Vols. 3–4, Online Social Networks and Media. Elsevier B.V.; 2017. p. 1–21.

Lerman J. Big Data and Its Exclusions. Stanford Law Rev Online. 2013;66.

Lyon D. Surveillance Capitalism, Surveillance Culture and Data Politics. In: Bigo D, Isin E, Ruppert E, editors. Data Politics: Worlds, Subjects, Rights. Routledge; 2019. p. 64–77.

de Montjoye Y-A, Houssiau F. Can we fight COVID-19 without resorting to mass surveillance? Computational Privacy Group Blog. 2020.

Nissenbaum H. Privacy in Context: Technology, Policy, and the Integrity of Social Life. Stanford: Stanford University Press; 2010.

Nissenbaum H. Contextual integrity up and down the data food chain. Theor Inq Law. 2019;20(1):221–56.

O’Neil C. Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy. Portland, OR: Broadway Books; 2017.

Park S, Humphry J. Exclusion by design: intersections of social, digital and data exclusion. Inf Commun Soc. 2019 Jun;22(7):934–53.

Roberds W, Schreft SL. Data security, privacy, and identity theft: The economics behind the policy debates. Econ Perspect. 2009;33(1).

Rughiniș C, Rughiniș R. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Profiles of online activity, cyber crime exposure, and security measures of end users in the European Union. Comput Secur. 2014;43:111–25.

Sanchez-Rola I, Dell’Amico M, Kotzias P, Balzarotti D, Bilge L, Vervier PA, et al. Can i opt out yet? GDPR and the global illusion of cookie control. In: AsiaCCS 2019 - Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Asia Conference on Computer and Communications Security. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery, Inc; 2019. p. 340–51.

Tene O, Polonetsky J. Privacy in the Age of Big Data: A Time for Big Decisions. Stanford Law Rev Online. 2011;64.

TNS Opinion & Social. Special Eurobarometer 359 “Attitudes on Data Protection and Electronic Identity in the European Union.” 2010.

Urban T, Tatang D, Degeling M, Holz T, Pohlmann N. A Study on Subject Data Access in Online Advertising After the GDPR. In: Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics). Springer; 2019. p. 61–79.

Yates S, Carmi E, Pawluczuk A, Lockley E, Wessels B, Gangneux J. Me and My Big Data Report 2020. 2020.

Zuboff S. Big other: Surveillance capitalism and the prospects of an information civilization. J Inf Technol. 2015;

Zuboff S. The age of surveillance capitalism: The fight for a human future at the new frontier of power. Profile Books; 2019.