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Abstract

Today, advanced data-collection technologies and practices are ubiquitous and online information-sharing is a social norm. Government agencies and private corporations routinely collect personal data, leading to widespread privacy concerns. Scholars have studied digital privacy concerns, but this study specifically measures how college students, who are internet natives, navigate their online privacy. This study also examines privacy-related measures (experiences online, privacy beliefs, and protection behaviors) among Colorado College students, and how these measures vary by race, gender, and socioeconomic status. It also measures to what extent students exhibit the privacy paradox, the gap between digital privacy concerns and privacy protection behavior, and how the paradox varies by race, gender, and socioeconomic status. The study found that women have more negative online experiences and care more about online privacy risks than men and non-binary participants. Results showed that privacy protection behavior differed by gender, with women untagging pictures more often but men using VPNs and incognito mode more often. There were minimal behavioral variations by race and socioeconomic status. Regarding the privacy paradox, women exhibited less paradoxical behavior than men and other genders, yet there were minimal variations of the privacy paradox by race and socioeconomic status. Further research should consider using an intersectional lens.

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