With an ever-growing use and variety of digital devices, most recently the Internet of
Things, children’s and family privacy is an important topic with many under-researched
aspects (Livingstone, Stoilova, Nandagiri, 2019). Although children and adolescents
might be more likely to share greater amounts of personal information than adults, and
to apply more lenient privacy settings on social media (Walrave, Vanwesenbeeck, &
Heirman, 2012), studies have also shown that young people tend to care about their
privacy (see e.g. boyd, 2014; Marwick & boyd, 2014).
In this article, we examine “privacy concern” as a possible source of motivation for
privacy protecting behaviors. According to the widely used Communication Privacy
Management (CPM) theory (Petronio, 2002, 2015), higher privacy concern leads to
employing more restrictive privacy behaviors. Nonetheless, previous research has also
identified the concept of “privacy paradox” (De Wolf cf. Acquisti & Gross, 2006; Hargittai
& Marwick, 2016), which proposes that despite reported privacy concern, young people
nonetheless disclose large amounts of information about themselves. A possible
explanation is in the feeling of a lack of control in networked environments generating
“apathy” and “cynicism” and the impression that “privacy violations are inevitable”
(Hargittai & Marwick, 2016, p. 3752). We test the paradox by studying whether children
who report greater privacy concern actually disclose more or less personal information
about themselves; or otherwise engage in behaviors that might jeopardize their privacy
(e.g. by using wearable devices and the Internet of Things, which might expose them to
increased levels of data collection for commercial purposes).
We further examine whether children whose parents or caregivers share significant
amounts of information about them, and children who have experienced sharentingrelated
breaches (such as being upset about what their parents have posted online) are
more likely to be concerned about their privacy than other children. Following CPM,
such breaches, which the theory terms as “turbulence” would lead to higher privacy
concern. Finally, we also test whether children whose parents display higher levels of
privacy concern tend to be more concerned about their privacy as well.
We study these questions on a nationally representative sample of 9-17-year-old
Internet using children from Norway and one of their parents/caregivers, conducted as
part of the EU Kids Online project in 2018. As a case study, Norway is a country where
the use of digital technology among youth is very high, as confirmed by the most recent
analyses on nationally representative samples of children in 19 European countries; and
so is exposure to risks (Smahel et al., 2020; Helsper et al., 2013). While children’s
independent smartphone and social media use starts early, children also tend to enjoy
significant family, social and policy-level support for safe digital media use, as compared
to other European countries.
With this in mind, we ask the following research questions:
RQ1: What are the characteristics of children who report grater levels of concern for
their privacy online and with digital technology?
RQ1a: Are children with higher digital skills more worried about their privacy
(because they are more aware of the dangers)?
RQ1b: Are children who have experienced privacy or data-protection-related
harms more likely to report privacy concerns?
RQ2: What are the characteristics of families of children who report grater levels of
concern for their privacy online and with digital technology?
RQ2a: How are parental attitudes to privacy online and with digital technology
related to children’s levels of concern for their privacy?
RQ2b: What is the relationship between parental digital skills and children’s
levels of concern for their privacy?
RQ3: Do children who report higher privacy concern share more information about
themselves online than children who report lower concern?
RQ3a: Are children who report higher privacy concern less likely than other
children to use wearable devices and the Internet of Things devices?
Sampling and method
This study relies on a nationally representative survey sample of Internet-using children
in Norway. The data was collected between June and October 2018 within the EU Kids
Online research project. 1001 children of both sexes, aged from 9 to 17 years, were
interviewed via CASI method. The data was collected by Ipsos Mori. 47.1% of the
sample was female, Mage= 13.3. The sampling frame was stratified by the economic
characteristics of municipalities as well as the number of 9 to 17-year-old children who
lived there. Respondents were initially recruited by telephone, followed by face-to-face
interviews at home. Respondents’ anonymity and confidentiality were secured. The data
collection was approved by the Norwegian national Data Authority (Datatilsynet), and
followed procedures established by the National Ethical Committees for Social Science
and Humanities and by the Norwegian Center for Research Data (NSD). Informed
consent was obtained from each parent and each child that participated.
Data analyses and initial results
In order to verify determinants of higher levels of privacy concern in children and
teenagers, we conducted a series of logistic regression analyses in the proportional
odds model, controlling for child demographics and psychological characteristics.
Findings indicate that privacy breaches such as sharenting, as well as general risk
experiences significantly predict higher levels of privacy concern. Furthermore, children
who declare having found themselves in a situation where they could use the privacyrelated
advice (e.g. on sharing personal information online) are also more concerned
about their privacy online. Additionally, parental level of privacy concern seems to have
a modelling effect on a child’s attitude towards privacy online. Preliminary analyses into
privacy paradox did not provide support for nor evidence against the effect.