Understanding the Relationship Between Personal Data Privacy Literacy and Data Privacy Information Sharing by University Students

TL;DR

This study investigates how university students' privacy literacy levels influence their data privacy behaviors and perceptions, highlighting the importance of targeted educational initiatives to improve privacy practices among students.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence linking privacy literacy levels to specific privacy behaviors and discusses implications for privacy education at universities.

Findings

High literacy students use more advanced privacy measures.

High literacy students participate more in privacy discussions.

Privacy literacy correlates with diverse privacy practices.

Abstract

With constant threats to the safety of personal data in the United States, privacy literacy has become an increasingly important competency among university students, one that ties intimately to the information sharing behavior of these students. This survey based study examines how university students in the United States perceive personal data privacy and how their privacy literacy influences their understanding and behaviors. Students responses to a privacy literacy scale were categorized into high and low privacy literacy groups, revealing that high literacy individuals demonstrate a broader range of privacy practices, including multi factor authentication, VPN usage, and phishing awareness, whereas low literacy individuals rely on more basic security measures. Statistical analyses suggest that high literacy respondents display greater diversity in recommendations and engagement in privacy discussions. These findings suggest the need for enhanced educational initiatives to improve data privacy awareness at the university level to create a better cyber safe population.