Contradictions between public perception of privacy and corporate privacy policy: A case study of TikTok

While artificial intelligence and big data technology are booming in the platform economy, it is hard to ignore how the business practices that take up these technologies are changing people’s perceptions of privacy and the implications lying beneath these practices. This paper used a systematic review and discourse analysis, respectively, to contrast how individuals perceive privacy with corporate privacy claims. Based on these results, the paper describes and analyzes the contradictions at play between personal and corporate relationships to privacy. Based on a case study of TikTok’s privacy policy, the study finds that people are generally not aware of the consequences of TikTok’s collection and use of personal data, and an unequal relationship has been established between the company and its users through business practice. I argued that protecting personal privacy should be considered as a part of people’s subjectivity which should not be harmed, while the centralization of information and knowledge is putting people’s subjectivity in greater danger than at any previous time

Yksityisyysparadoksi sosiaalisessa mediassa : Katsaus nuorten käsityksiin ja taustalla vaikuttaviin tekijöihin

Yksityisyysparadoksilla tarkoitetaan ilmiötä, jossa ihmiset ovat huolissaan yksityisyydensuojastaan, mutta ovat silti valmiita jakamaan henkilötietojaan vastineeksi pienistä palkkioista tai sosiaalisista suhteista. Tämän tutkielman tarkoituksena oli selvittää ja tutkia erilaisia teorioita, jotka selittävät yksityisyysparadoksin ilmentymistä sosiaalisen median alustoilla. Toisena tavoitteena oli kartoittaa nuorten käsityksiä yksityisyyden konseptista. Paradoksi on erittäin näkyvillä erityisesti sosiaalisen median alustoilla, jossa ihmiset jakavat herkästi hyvinkin arkaluontoisia ja yksityisiä tietoja itsestään. Tutkielma toteutettiin kuvailevana kirjallisuuskatsauksena. Tutkielman aineisto koostui 11 vertaisarvioidusta tutkimusartikkelista, joista kahta lukuun ottamatta kaikki olivat ulkomaisia tutkimuksia. Tutkimuskysymyksinä olivat: millainen käsitys nuorilla on sosiaalisen median aiheuttamista yksityisyysongelmista ja mitkä tekijät selittävät yksityisyysparadoksia alle 30-vuotiaiden sosiaalisen median käyttäjien keskuudessa. Tutkimustulokset osoittivat, että ihmiset ovat valmiita uhraamaan osan yksityisyydestään jatkaakseen elämää sellaisena, joihin he ovat modernissa yhteiskunnassa tottuneet, ja perustelevat sitä itselleen monin eri tavoin. Sosiaalinen paine jakaa henkilökohtaista tietoa voi olla vahva nuorten keskuudessa, ja käyttäjät saattavat kokea tarvetta olla aktiivisia ja näkyviä sosiaalisessa mediassa. Nykypäivän yksityiskäsitteen määrittelyyn liittyy haasteita. Yksityisyyden konsepti on erilainen online- ja offline-ympäristöjen välillä. Yksityisyyteen liittyvät huolenaiheet ovat subjektiivisia ja niihin vaikuttavat muun muassa käyttäjän ikä, sukupuoli ja kokemus sosiaalisen median käytöstä. Aiempi tutkimus ei ole saavuttanut yksimielistä konsensusta yksityisyysparadoksia selittävästä teoriasta. Sen sijaan useita selittäviä tekijöitä ja teorioita on esitetty. Neljä keskeistä teoriaa selittävät yksityisyysparadoksin ilmentymistä: privacy calculus -teoria, kyyninen ja apaattinen asenne omaa yksityisyydensuojaa kohtaan, kognitiiviset vinoumat ja heuristiikat sekä rajoittunut rationaalisuus

Resignation or Resistance? Examining the Digital Privacy Attitudes and Behaviours of East Yorkers

Digital technologies have become enmeshed in everyday life causing the public to become exposed to potential privacy risks through data collection and aggregation practices. Further, the upsurge in use of social networking platforms has also created opportunities for privacy violations through institutional and social surveillance. Employing a qualitative thematic analysis, this study explores how adults (N=101) living in East York, Toronto, navigate privacy through their use of the internet and digital services. Participants expressed feelings of mistrust, loss of control, resignation, and perceived self-unimportance with regards to their digital data. Importantly, others noted their desire and attempts to gain agency when using online services. This study provides support for the rich and developing body of literature on the sociology of resignation; as such, it challenges the notion that digital users are unconcerned about their data online and argues for a re-evaluation of the informed and empowered actor metaphor at the heart of the privacy paradox debate

Swaying Individuals’ Privacy Concerns via Amplifying versus Diminishing Counter Argument

Background: Though limited, research has found that individuals\u27 privacy concerns could be swayed by counter argument. This study investigated the swaying influence of amplifying vs. diminishing argument (i.e., counter argument seeking to increase or decrease privacy concerns) on individuals’ privacy concerns and the moderating influences of level of sensitivity and privacy-related knowledge. Method: Data was collected using online survey and respondents were college students enrolled in a Midwestern university. 215 students participated in the survey, resulting in 180 completed responses; two factors (survey competition time and response consistency for reversely-coded items) were used to screen response quality and 90 responses were kept. Data was analyzed using univariate analysis. Results: Results suggest that the swaying influence of counter argument depends on the level of sensitivity—the swaying influence is greater when individuals are presented with amplifying (diminishing) argument for a highly (less) sensitive issue/scenario. In addition, although the swaying influence is smaller for those with high privacy knowledge in general, it is not necessarily easier to sway those with low privacy knowledge. Instead, those with low privacy knowledge are more likely to get stuck or trapped in their existing privacy beliefs when facing privacy argument inconsistent with their existing beliefs, and are more likely to be provoked or stirred up when facing argument reinforcing their existing beliefs. Conclusion: Findings suggest that when processing privacy argument, individuals show confirmation bias and tend to “go with their initial assessments”. This is especially true for those with low privacy knowledge. When facing privacy related argument, individuals with low privacy knowledge behave the opposite of how magnets work—while magnets’ opposite poles attract each other and similar poles repel, individuals with low privacy knowledge embrace argument consistent with their existing beliefs and repel/reject argument inconsistent with their existing beliefs

Delphi Study of Risk to Individuals who Disclose Personal Information Online

A two-round Delphi study was conducted to explore priorities for addressing online risk to individuals. A corpus of literature was created based on 69 peer-reviewed articles about privacy risk and the privacy calculus published between 2014 and 2019. A cluster analysis of the resulting text-base using Pearson’s correlation coefficient resulted in seven broad topics. After two rounds of the Delphi survey with experts in information security and information literacy, the following topics were identified as priorities for further investigation: personalisation versus privacy; responsibility for privacy on social networks; measuring privacy risk; and perceptions of powerlessness and the resulting apathy. The Delphi approach provided clear conclusions about research topics and has potential as a tool for prioritising future research areas

Delphi Study of Risk to Individuals who Disclose Personal Information Online

A two-round Delphi study was conducted to explore priorities for addressing online risk to individuals. A corpus of literature was created based on 69 peer-reviewed articles about privacy risk and the privacy calculus published between 2014 and 2019. A cluster analysis of the resulting text-base using Pearson’s correlation coefficient resulted in seven broad topics. After two rounds of the Delphi survey with experts in information security and information literacy, the following topics were identified as priorities for further investigation: personalisation versus privacy; responsibility for privacy on social networks; measuring privacy risk; and perceptions of powerlessness and the resulting apathy. The Delphi approach provided clear conclusions about research topics and has potential as a tool for prioritising future research areas

Mental Models of Dark Patterns

In this paper, we report on the literature related to understanding young learners’ mental models related to deceptive “dark patterns” used by malicious agents online: so-called sludge. We also discuss elicitation of mental models, particularly when carrying out activities to reveal the mental models of young learners. In addition, we review the ethical considerations when carrying out research in this domain. Finally, we propose the design of an activity to implement the lessons we have learned to assess the sludge-related mental models of young learners

Asymmetrical third-person effects on the perceptions of online risk and harm among adolescents and adults

Although research has identified a range of opportunities, risks, and harms related to online social networking, the public debate on online risks follows a set pattern by which members of older age groups (parents, regulators) hold a picture of members of younger age groups (teenagers, digital natives) at a uniformly high level of risk. Perceptions of online risk, however, are prone to third-person effects in which individuals perceive risks to be more apparent in others than themselves. This study investigated third-person effects across age groups to further our understanding of the set positions found in current public debate. Multivariate analysis was used to compare adolescent and adult users' personal and third-person perceptions of common psycho-social risks associated with social networking engagement in a sample of 506 UK-based Facebook users (53% male; 13–77 years). Results indicated that rates of exposure to online vulnerabilities were similar for both age groups. However, differences in adult and adolescent perceptions of risk highlighted apparent mismatches between reported exposure to risk and an individual's perceptions, with adults demonstrating lower personal perceptions and higher third-person perceptions of risk than their adolescent counterparts. The research considers the implications of risk perception on an individual's online vulnerability

A breathless race for breathing space : Critical-analytical futures studies and the contested co-evolution of privacy imaginaries and institutions

Seeds for countless alternative futures already exist in anticipatory imaginaries and projects, and in possibilities for action. The novel approach of critical-analytical futures studies enables systematically studying anticipatory future-making processes and possibilities for agency. Critical-analytical futures studies develops the tradition of critical futures studies by incorporating an understanding of historical processes, causal mechanisms and negotiation among actors with future-oriented projects. Privacy in the digital age seems to be simultaneously a grand challenge and a relatively minor issue. Currently actors are breathlessly racing to ensure and define breathing space. In other words, they debate the meanings of privacy in a context where datafication seriously undermines privacy. This dissertation investigates the anticipatory co-evolution of imaginaries and institutions in making futures of privacy in Europe. Privacy protection is defined as a social institution at the intersection of three types of anticipatory practices: anticipatory institutional change, surveillance practices and anticipation in everyday life. By regulating surveillance, privacy rules maintain a societal future orientation that leaves space for creativity, imagination and human agency. The analytical framework is operationalised through four stages for qualitatively studying anticipatory institutional change: 1) historical context, 2) investigation of actor storylines, 3) analysis of deeper imaginaries, and 4) identification of latent future possibilities. This approach, developed in this dissertation, is termed CASIL (context, actor storylines, imaginaries and latents). The five original studies develop different aspects of the four methodological stages. The overall temporal landscape features two competing imaginaries, continued growth and tragic loss. Decision-makers in the European Union are navigating between these imaginaries and trying to maintain a positive role for Europe. The discussion section identifies numerous latent possibilities for promoting a systemic understanding of privacy as ‘breathing space for futures’. However, there is a strategic tradeoff for privacy advocates between increasing the regulation of surveillance practices and taming the roots of surveillance.Lukemattomien tulevaisuuksien siemenet ovat olemassa imaginaareissa ja toiminnan mahdollisuuksissa. Uusi kriittis-analyyttisen tulevaisuuksientutkimuksen lähestymistapa mahdollistaa tulevaisuuden tekemisen prosessien ja toimijuuden mahdollisuuksien tutkimisen. Kriittis-analyyttisessä tulevaisuuksientutkimuksessa kehitetään kriittistä tulevaisuuksientutkimusta tutkimalla historiallisia prosesseja, kausaalisia mekanismeja sekä toimijoiden ja projektien välistä neuvottelua. Digitaalisella aikakaudella yksityisyys näyttäytyy samanaikaisesti suurena yhteiskunnallisena haasteena ja verrattain vähäisenä kysymyksenä. Toimijat pyrkivät hengästyneesti määrittelemään hengitystilaa, eli he väittelevät yksityisyyden merkityksistä tilanteessa, jossa dataistuminen heikentää yksityisyyden edellytyksiä. Väitöskirjassa tutkitaan imaginaarien ja instituutioiden koevoluutiota yksityisyyden tulevaisuuden tekemisprosessissa Euroopassa. Yksityisyyden suoja määritellään yhteiskunnalliseksi instituutioksi, joka on kolmenlaisten antisipatoristen käytäntöjen välissä: antisipatorisen institutionaalisen muutoksen, valvontakäytäntöjen ja jokapäiväisen ennakoinnin. Yksityisyyssäännöt säätelevät valvontaa ja pitävät yllä luovuuden ja inhimillisen toimijuuden mahdollistavaa tulevaisuussuuntautumista. Antisipatorista institutionaalista muutosta tutkitaan laadullisesti nelivaiheisen kehikon avulla. Vaiheet ovat 1) historiallisen kontekstin huomioiminen, 2) toimijoiden tarinalinjojen tutkiminen, 3) taustalla olevien imaginaarien analysointi sekä 4) piilevien mahdollisuuksien tunnistaminen. Väitöskirjan viisi artikkelia käsittelevät kehikon eri osia. Kokonaiskuvassa voidaan nähdä kaksi kilpailevaa imaginaaria: jatkuva kasvu ja traaginen menetys. Euroopan unionin päätöksentekijät navigoivat näiden imaginaarien välillä ja yrittävät ylläpitää Euroopan positiivista roolia. Väitöskirjassa tunnistetaan piileviä mahdollisuuksia edistää systeemistä ymmärrystä yksityisyydestä, jossa yksityisyys nähdään ”hengitystilana tulevaisuuksille”. Yksityisyyden puolestapuhujat ovat strategisen valintatilanteen edessä, jossa toisella puolella on valvontakäytäntöjen sääntelyn lisääminen ja toisella puolella valvonnan juurien kesyttäminen

Kurt Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions: A Contemplative Exercise in Good Citizenship

Denne oppgaven omhandler romanen Breakfast of Champions (1973) av Kurt Vonnegut, og hvordan det å lese den blir en kontemplativ øvelse i medborgerskap. Ofte omtalt som Vonneguts mest eksperimentelle og splittende roman, og den umiddelbare etterfølgeren av hans magnum opus Slaughterhouse-Five, er Breakfast en bok som er både elsket og hatet. Romanen er en eksperimentell postmoderne satire av det amerikanske forbrukersamfunnet. Dessuten retter Breakfast seg mot så mange ulike sosiale, politiske og miljømessige uretter, og kanskje spesielt hvordan disse problemene vikler seg sammen, at den representerer en betraktning av selve den menneskelige tilstand i postmoderniteten. Mer dyptgående stiller boken spørsmål ved forholdet mellom fortelling og virkelighet, og kritiserer hvordan fortellingene våre, og vår forveksling av fiksjon og virkelighet, er roten til mye menneskelig lidelse. Vi kan oppsummere romanens litt merkelig, men desto mer tankevekkende normative holdning ved å sitere Vonneguts kunngjøring i romanen: «Jeg valgte å avstå fra fortellerkunst. Jeg ville skrive om livet. Hver person ville være like viktig som alle andre. Alle fakta ville gis samme vekt» (s. 210, min oversettelse). Denne uttalelsen peker både til romanens selvrefleksive og politiske art, og jeg argumenterer for at denne slags kontemplasjon er noe som kreves av vårt samtidige medborgerskap, og at det å lese Breakfast blir en øvelse i dette. Til forskjell fra mer tradisjonelle satirer så har ikke Breakfast svarene på problemene den fremhever. I stedet bes leseren inn i kampen, side om side med Vonnegut, og må komme frem til egne oppfatninger og slutninger. Dette skjer i stor grad gjennom romanens gjennomsyrende metafiksjon, og at den fortelles med en ekstremt upåvirket og objektiv stemme, som i møte med livets brutalitet blir både mørk komedie, men samtidig empatisk og medfølende. Romanen bevarer sin kontemplative og politiske vitalitet på tross av sin alder, og jeg argumenter for at den fortjener økt oppmerksomhet nettopp fordi den resonnerer så godt med i vår tid. 2022, 100-årsjubileet til Vonneguts fødsel, og et år før 50-årsjubileet til utgivelsen av Breakfast, virker for meg som en passende tid å revitalisere en av Amerikas store postmoderne forfattere.Engelsk mastergradsoppgaveENG350MAHF-LÆFRMAHF-EN