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Online privacy concerns and privacy protection strategies among older adults in East York, Canada

Authors:

Anabel Quan‐Haase,

Dennis HoAuthors Info & Claims

Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, Volume 71, Issue 9

Pages 1089 - 1102

https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24364

Published: 06 August 2020 Publication History

Abstract

As news headlines report on high‐profile online privacy breaches and the potential negative consequences for users, users are becoming concerned about their privacy. While much research has focused on the concerns of younger generations, few studies have investigated older adults, specifically those aged 65+ years. This study analyzes in‐depth interviews with 40 older adults living in East York, Toronto, Canada, to investigate their online privacy concerns and the strategies they use to mitigate these concerns. We find that East York older adults are mostly concerned about security privacy concerns followed by institutional privacy concerns and only minimally concerned about social privacy. The greatest concerns included information misuse by unknown others and unauthorized access to their personal information. We found that, for some older adults, their high privacy concerns precluded them from taking full advantage of the potential benefits of digital media. East York older adults varied considerably in their use of privacy protection strategies; some older adults used no strategies, while others were eager to protect their privacy using all strategies at their disposal.

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Information & Contributors

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Published In

cover image Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology

Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology Volume 71, Issue 9

September 2020

152 pages

ISSN:2330-1635

EISSN:2330-1643

DOI:10.1002/asi.v71.9

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© 2020 Association for Information Science and Technology.

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John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

United States

Publication History

Published: 06 August 2020

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Cited By

Nguyen TTran VTran Hoang M(2024)How Peer Privacy Concerns Affect Active and Passive Uses of Social Networking SitesSocial Science Computer Review10.1177/0894439323122453942:6(1440-1463)Online publication date: 1-Dec-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1177/08944393231224539
Havens ZLatulipe C(2024)Proxy Accounts and Behavioural Nudges: Investigating Support for Older Adults and their Financial DelegatesProceedings of the 50th Graphics Interface Conference10.1145/3670947.3670962(1-14)Online publication date: 3-Jun-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3670947.3670962
Li WXiong BYang C(2024)A roadmap to achieving a healthier information ecosystem through GDPR implementation and privacy compliance technologiesJournal of the Association for Information Science and Technology10.1002/asi.2487875:10(1182-1201)Online publication date: 12-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1002/asi.24878
Das Chowdhury PRenaud K(2023)‘Ought’ should not assume ‘Can’? Basic Capabilities in Cybersecurity to Ground Sen’s Capability ApproachProceedings of the 2023 New Security Paradigms Workshop10.1145/3633500.3633506(76-91)Online publication date: 18-Sep-2023
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Stokes JAugust TMarver RCzeskis ARoesner FKohno TReinecke K(2023)How Language Formality in Security and Privacy Interfaces Impacts Intended ComplianceProceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544548.3581275(1-12)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
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Mugariri PAbdullah HGarcía-Torres MParameshchari BAbdul Sattar K(2022)Promoting Information Privacy Protection Awareness for Internet of Things (IoT)Mobile Information Systems10.1155/2022/42476512022Online publication date: 1-Jan-2022
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Ellefsen JChen W(2022)Privacy and Data Security in Everyday Online Services for Older AdultsProceedings of the 10th International Conference on Software Development and Technologies for Enhancing Accessibility and Fighting Info-exclusion10.1145/3563137.3563149(203-207)Online publication date: 31-Aug-2022
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Mendel TSchuster RTromer EToch E(2022)Toward Proactive Support for Older AdultsProceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies10.1145/35172496:1(1-25)Online publication date: 29-Mar-2022
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Latulipe CDsouza RCumbers M(2022)Unofficial Proxies: How Close Others Help Older Adults with BankingProceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3491102.3501845(1-13)Online publication date: 29-Apr-2022
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Zimmer MVitak JWu P(2020)Editorial introductionJournal of the Association for Information Science and Technology10.1002/asi.2439471:9(997-1001)Online publication date: 6-Aug-2020
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