Your Data Shadow: An Exploratory Study of the Short-term Effect of Viewing News and Information Content on Surveillance Technologies on Perceptions of Privacy

This exploratory study measures the effect of viewing news stories and information about privacy breaches and surveillance technology, on awareness and sensitivity to privacy and the protection of personal information.There has been little empirical examination of the effect of surveillance awareness despite a growing body of scholarship devoted to theorizing surveillance and privacy.Participants in an experimental group (N=30), comprised of Carleton University students were exposed to a series of short documentary and news stories (26 minutes) about breaches in privacy and asked to respond to written questions about their perceptions relating to privacy awareness, vulnerability and prevention.These responses were compared to a control group (N=30).The findings suggest that knowledge about surveillance technologies such as biometrics and privacy are limited among all participants.The experimental group however, demonstrated elevated concerns about their privacy after being exposed to the video; thus demonstrating educational programming's powerful immediate effect. Chapter One: IntroductionIt might seem that despite increasing advancements in surveillance technology, Canadians are not significantly concerned about privacy.When you make a simple purchase, for instance, at a furniture store, the store cashier may request personal information such as your home address and telephone number.Many of us voluntarily provide this personal information without much hesitation, but are we aware of why an institution is collecting our personal information, and if so, have we really considered the consequences arising from providing it?Between 2003 and 2007, more than 20 million credit and debit card numbers were stolen by hackers from TJX Co. (Pilieci 2010).In June 2010, Google surreptitiously collected private Wi-Fi data in 30 countries (Pilieci 2010).According to Ontario's information and privacy commissioner, Ann Cavoukian, the world has less than a decade to make the protection of personal information and online privacy a priority, before these concepts cease to exist (Pilieci 2010).The main objective of this exploratory study is to empirically test the effect of viewing news content about breaches of privacy.In particular, whether exposure to such news affects awareness or potential precautionary behaviour.Such research is crucial, as the findings can contribute to future planning, i.e., with regards to the creation of privacy laws in Canada, as well as the manner in which technology devices are developed and implemented.If a particular group of people (e.g., students), do not have a serious regard for privacy, this lack of awareness may mitigate against their protecting personal information to reduce potential risks, such as fraud, identity theft, profiling, and so forth.

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