u Increasing  youth  presence  on  digital media (and  acceptability):  Information  youth share  online is  collected  by  companies  and  shared  with  third parties (trusted  partners,  affiliates,  and  the  like)

u Friendly  Fire:  Children  under  13  years  old  receive  some  protection  online  via  the  Children’s  Online  Privacy  Protection  Act  (COPPA,  1998)  and  the  Children’s  Internet  Protection  Act  (CIPA,2000)  but  only  for  websites/programs/apps  that  specifically  target youth  under  13  years  of  age.  Youth  digital  use  is  vast.  

u Digital  Literacy  Awareness: Has  focused  on  cyberbullying and  stranger  danger  as  opposed  to  the  collection,  storage,  packaging,  and  selling  of  personal  information  by  companies  and  third  parties

Privacy  Permanence  Paradox:  Protecting  PreteensKristen  Walker,  Ph.D.,  Tina  Kiesler,  Ph.D.,  &  Summer Malone

California  State  University Northridge

Project  Goals

Research  Process

Presented  at  FTC’s  PrivacyCon,  January  12, 2017  

Key  Findings

AcknowledgementThis  research  and  the  resulting  educational  campaign  issupported  by  a  grant  from  the  Digital  Trust Foundation.

Issues

u Research  motivations  and  actions  of  middle  school  youth  and  two  primary  influencers  of  youth—their  parents/caregivers  and  their  educators

u Involve  college  undergraduates  in  the  process  of  working  to  understand  privacy  issues  facing  middle  school  youth

u Create  educational  privacy  campaigns  to  inform  middle  school  youth  about  privacy  risks  involved  with  exchanging  information  online  

u Focus  Groups  with  middle-­‐school-­‐aged  youth  

u Surveys  of  middle-­‐school-­‐aged  youth

u Surveys  of  educators  of  middle-­‐school-­‐aged  youth  

u Surveys  of  parents  of  at  least  one  middle-­‐school-­‐aged  child

u One-­‐on-­‐one  interviews  with  parents  of  at  least  one  middle-­‐school-­‐aged  child

u 3  educational  social  media  marketing  campaigns  designed  by  university  undergraduates  at  CSUN.

u Digital  Literacy  and  Consumer  Information  iBook

u Website:  http://www.youthprivacyprotection.org

u Next  steps:  Distribute  campaigns  to  educate  youth,  parents,  and  educators  and  assess  campaign  effectiveness

u Campaign  outcome  measures:  Knowledge  of  online  risks  and  behavior  change(s)  associated  with  third-­‐party  online  information  acquisition  and  use

u Future  research:  Youth  online  information  sharing  and  digital  dependence

The  underlying theme identified  by  the  research  team  is what  we  call  a  permanence  paradox:  when  an  individual  engages  in  online  information  exchanges  without  mediating  the  risk  due  to  a  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  long-­‐term  value  of  their  personal  information.  

✓ General  lack  of  awareness  of  the  risks  of  exchanging  information  online  among  middle  school  youth,  parents/caregivers,  and  educators  as  well  as  our  undergraduate  student  participants.  

ü Parents,  educators,  and  older  siblings  act  as  significant  influencers  and  enablers  of  device  use  and  online  activities  (e.g.,  allowing  and  creating  social  media  accounts  for  their  children  under  the  age  of  13)

ü Parents  were  greatest  influence  (46%),  friends  (43%),  siblings  (28%),  teachers  (20%),  other  (14%),  none  of  the  above  (5%)  and  [other  included  themselves,  other  relatives,  YouTube,  and  advertisements]

✓ 7th  grade  technology  leap  illustrates  an increase  in  device  use/online  activity  (particularly  social  media  that  target  adults)

✓ Increasing  use  of  online  sites  for  homework  assignments  from  educators,  such  as  YouTube,  intensifies  the  vulnerability  of  middle  school  youth

ü YouTube  is  the  primary  online  resource  used  in  the  classroom  and  for  homework  assignments  as  reported  by  the  teachers  in  our  sample  (confusion  as  to  what  is  a  social  media  site)

Youth  Privacy  Protection  Campaigns

70%$

13%$

32%$40%$

9%$ 6%$

44%#

7%#

26%#

60%#

11%# 6%#

0%$10%$20%$30%$40%$50%$60%$70%$80%$

Parents$

Teachers$

Brother/Sister$

Friends$

Other$

None$of$the$above$

Influencers#Middle#School#Youth#Prefer#To#Ask#For#Help#

10B12#years#old#(n=#164)#

13#years#old#(n=#55)#

Middle  School  Youth  Preferences  when  Asking  for  Help  with  Online  Activities

15%$

52%$

26%$

30%$

31%$

9%#

80%#

20%#

13%#

16%#

0%$ 20%$ 40%$ 60%$ 80%$ 100%$

Other$

Friends$

Brother/Sister$

Teachers$

Parents$

Influencers#Middle#School#Youth#Learn#Most#From#

13#years#old#(n=#55)#

10D12#years#old#(n=#164)#

Influencers  of  Middle  School  Youth  Device  Use/Activity Outfox the Cyberhawks!

Privacy…  it’s  not  a  game.

✓ Evolving  online  presence  of  middle  school  youth  under  the  age  of  13  at  school  and  home  (an  increased  use/ownership  of  devices  by  youth)

Grant  Deliverables

0%# 10%# 20%# 30%# 40%# 50%# 60%# 70%# 80%# 90%#

Tablet#

Desktop#

Laptop#

iPod#

Cell#phone#

Other#

Tablet# Desktop# Laptop# iPod# Cell#phone# Other#

Home# 77%# 57%# 66%# 41%# 79%# 25%#

School# 14%# 58%# 75%# 12%# 79%# 2%#

Home%Device%Use%vs%School%Device%Use%

Home#

School#

Youth  Digital  Device  Use:  Home  and  School