Digital privacy and security awareness
Abstract
On Monday, April 26, 2021, Apple introduced its new privacy update, which requires apps to obtain a user's permission before tracking their data. The update in iOS 14 will require so-called third-party apps to ask for your permission to track users. This gives them the opportunity to decide if they want to share their data or not. Apple's update illustrates why it is important to be aware about online privacy and know what information you as a user put online. Most of us post pictures and personal information online and freely enter our phone number or email address when shopping. When you download and use an app or a website you also give away a lot of personal information about yourself. Your location, shopping preferences, and pictures can no longer be considered private. The benefit of getting a discount off your purchase may be tempting, but do you know what happens to your personal information? Laws are changing, for instance with the implementation of The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe and the Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in California. As much as this will restrict the personal information a company can access and use, the need for better training in online privacy is necessary. Online privacy and security awareness is a subjective matter and involves personal choices, which makes it difficult to generalize. However, in order to make responsible choices, awareness and education is vital. Based on my findings, the age group that was the most concerned about their online safety were adults over the age of 26. Since digital privacy and security awareness are taught to the younger generation, perhaps we need to make an effort to create a curriculum for teaching adults how to keep their information safe online.
Degree
M.A.
Thesis Department
Rights
OpenAccess.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License.