Description (short summary):
This a research paper which examines the paradoxes related to personal data, identity disclosure and protection by EU young people in four countries (ES, UK, FR, DE). Based on a large survey conducted by the JRC IPTS in 2008, the paper finds evidence of four paradoxes:

• Privacy paradox -- People do disclose a range of personal information despite high perception of privacy risks.
• Control paradox -- People desire full control on their personal data but avoid the hassle to keep it up to date and they do not use control technologies they know about.
• Responsibility paradox -- People believe that it is mainly their responsibility to protect their data online, but they are not confident in their own/other people's ability to keep their data protected.
• Awareness paradox -- More awareness of data protection (DP) rights does not influence attitudes with respect to the effectiveness of the regulatory framework and does not influence the intention to adopt services based on personal data disclosure.

The paradoxes play out against two main dilemmas: fragmentation of perceptions and behaviours across different technologies; and significant different across the four EU countries considered.

These have implications for policy making in the areas of data protection, eID and privacy (among others).

The paper (peer reviewed) was presented at the WEIS 2009 Conference on 24 June 2009.

Number of pages: 16