Correcting overconfidence in online privacy: experimenting with an educational game

IF 4.2 1区文学 Q1 COMMUNICATION

Information Communication & Society Pub Date : 2023-01-18 DOI:10.1080/1369118X.2023.2166360

Kristyn L. Karl, Yu-Li Tao

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

ABSTRACT Widespread use of the Internet means that online privacy, or how to protect one’s private information while engaging in online activity, has become a concern for many individuals. Research has investigated people’s online privacy experience, including online privacy attitudes, confidence, and behaviors. However, not much attention has been paid to how online privacy confidence could be misperceived and how educational tools can correct such overconfidence. Guided by the protection motivation theory, this research examines online privacy confidence and is composed of two studies: Study 1 reveals that online users misrepresent their online knowledge and may have overconfidence as a result. Inspired by this finding and previous research, Study 2 avoids self-reported measures of online knowledge and instead directly evaluates online privacy knowledge (using OPLIS) and its impact on online privacy confidence. Using a survey experiment, we find playing an online privacy educational game increases confidence overall and, importantly, corrects overconfidence. Despite this, we do not find any evidence that correction leads to increased information-seeking. The findings shed light on what online users themselves and organizations, such as universities, industry, and government agencies, can do to better educate individuals about online privacy while calling attention to the need for continued research regarding the underlying mechanisms and downstream behavioral consequences.

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纠正对网络隐私的过度自信:一款教育游戏的实验

摘要互联网的广泛使用意味着网络隐私，或在从事网络活动时如何保护自己的私人信息，已经成为许多人关注的问题。研究调查了人们的网络隐私体验，包括网络隐私态度、信心和行为。然而，人们并没有太多关注网络隐私信心是如何被误解的，以及教育工具如何纠正这种过度自信。在保护动机理论的指导下，本研究考察了网络隐私信心，由两项研究组成：研究1表明，网络用户歪曲了他们的网络知识，并可能因此产生过度自信。受这一发现和先前研究的启发，研究2避免了对在线知识的自我报告测量，而是直接评估在线隐私知识（使用OPLIS）及其对在线隐私信心的影响。通过一项调查实验，我们发现玩在线隐私教育游戏可以提高整体信心，更重要的是，可以纠正过度自信。尽管如此，我们没有发现任何证据表明更正会增加信息寻求。这些发现揭示了在线用户自己和组织，如大学、行业和政府机构，可以做些什么来更好地教育个人关于在线隐私的知识，同时呼吁人们注意对潜在机制和下游行为后果进行持续研究的必要性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Information Communication & Society Multiple-

CiteScore

10.20

自引率

4.80%

发文量

110

期刊介绍： Drawing together the most current work upon the social, economic, and cultural impact of the emerging properties of the new information and communications technologies, this journal positions itself at the centre of contemporary debates about the information age. Information, Communication & Society (iCS) transcends cultural and geographical boundaries as it explores a diverse range of issues relating to the development and application of information and communications technologies (ICTs), asking such questions as: -What are the new and evolving forms of social software? What direction will these forms take? -ICTs facilitating globalization and how might this affect conceptions of local identity, ethnic differences, and regional sub-cultures? -Are ICTs leading to an age of electronic surveillance and social control? What are the implications for policing criminal activity, citizen privacy and public expression? -How are ICTs affecting daily life and social structures such as the family, work and organization, commerce and business, education, health care, and leisure activities? -To what extent do the virtual worlds constructed using ICTs impact on the construction of objects, spaces, and entities in the material world? iCS analyses such questions from a global, interdisciplinary perspective in contributions of the very highest quality from scholars and practitioners in the social sciences, gender and cultural studies, communication and media studies, as well as in the information and computer sciences.