Overwhelmed by privacy

Pickering, Brian, Baker, Katie, Kirby, Sarah and Carmichael, Laura (2024) Overwhelmed by privacy. Journal of Privacy and Confidentiality. (Submitted)

Abstract

Much has been written about privacy attitudes and how private citizens make
decisions to share their personal data. The privacy paradox, for instance, maintains that despite claims to be concerned about the privacy of their data, private citizen behaviour seems to contradict such claims especially online. A series of well-known consumer surveys in the USA identified three behavioural types derived from statements relating to three constructs: trust in those receiving the personal data, the individual’s control over their data, and the governance structures in place to protect personal data. Recently, regulation such
as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe formalised an assumption that private citizens seek control over privacy by defining a comprehensive list of rights and thereby encouraging trust in those processing their data. Nonetheless, others maintain that such attempts at empowering private individuals do not reflect their expectations nor common data sharing practice. Based on a survey derived from a series of workshops with a group interested in patient data privacy, 466 private citizens in the UK shared their attitudes to data sharing and data protection structures. What they discussed compared well with provisions of the GDPR: regulation seems to capture private citizen concerns.
Extending the analysis via exploratory factor analysis with 444 response sets, however, we provide evidence that private citizens continue to be overwhelmed by privacy and may not appreciate how much control they really have. Indeed, they report lacking agency regarding their data. Further, data sharing decisions appear to be the result of a pragmatic motivation to achieve a specific task. We conclude that private citizens do not believe they maintain control of their data but act as privacy pragmatists, basing data sharing decisions on transactional motivations and soft trust rather than any statutory rights as set out in data protection regulation.

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Contributors

Author: Brian Pickering

Author: Sarah Kirby

Author: Laura Carmichael

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