Many of us say that we’re concerned about protecting our privacy and personal data online. And yet, our actions say otherwise. Recent research suggests that even when consumers don’t trust that their social media data is safe, they have no plans to protect it or opt out of social media altogether. Even those individuals who express concerns about their privacy behave quite carelessly online, engaging in uncensored or inappropriate self-disclosure, making a great deal of their digital footprint public, and allowing a wide range of external apps to access their data. Why the “privacy paradox?” This article explores the psychology behind the disconnect between our online privacy concerns, and our actual online behaviors.
Social psychologists have known for decades that the relationship between attitudes and behaviors is complex, if not weak. This is true online as well as offline. For example, though you may be irritated by the retargeting ads that follow you around the web, it probably hasn’t changed your online shopping behavior. By the same token, the widespread anger and distrust reported by the general public when the Edward Snowden NSA saga erupted did not decrease internet use. In fact, it did not even increase the adoption rate of higher security settings on social media. In other words, even when people say they are concerned with online privacy, their concerns may not be strong enough to drive digital abstinence. While more people are using VPNs, ad blockers, and tracking blockers to reclaim lost privacy, they’re still in the minority.
Since you are reading this, we can only assume that you are at least somewhat worried about your online privacy. And yet there’s a low probability that you take measures such as controlling the emails that people send you, removing cookies from your browser, regularly checking your computer for spyware, and deleting your browser history. Recent research suggests that even when consumers don’t trust that their social media data is safe, they have no plans to protect it or opt out. However, intentions are typically weak predictors of subsequent behaviors. For instance, most people say they would take a pay cut in order to work less or do more interesting work, but very few actually do. So the big question is not what people allegedly plan to do about privacy, but what they actually do.
To address this question, a recent meta-analysis of 166 studies, including 75,269 participants of 34 countries, explored the so-called “privacy paradox,” that is, the puzzling fact that people’s concerns about privacy rarely appear to translate into protective behaviors. Contrary to previous studies, the findings of the meta-analysis revealed that individuals who are more concerned with and informed about privacy tend to use fewer online services, set stronger security settings, and disclose less personal information. However, when it comes to social media use, there is indeed a privacy paradox, as even individuals who express concerns behave quite carelessly, engaging in uncensored or inappropriate self-disclosure, making a great deal of their digital footprint public, and allowing a wide range of external apps to access their data. It has been estimated that nearly 40% of Facebook content is shared according to the (rather unsafe) default settings, and that privacy settings match users’ expectations only 37% of the time. Thus, it appears that no amount of privacy concerns will make social media users more cautious.
One of the possible explanations for the privacy paradox is third person bias, which suggests that even when people perceive potential risks in using social media, they somehow believe that those risks don’t apply to themselves — just to others. This capacity for self-denial has been found in a wide range of risk-related activities, from drinking, to smoking, to having unprotected sex.
