IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2023 - 78

Feature
These definitions align with Westin's [12] conceptualization
of privacy as " control over " information.
But Nissenbaum's [13] alternative contextual
definition of privacy-or privacy as the appropriate
information flow of information as assessed by each
individual based on their preferences and perceptions-slowly
emerged.
As discussions around trust and what young people
wanted progressed, the understanding that privacy
was contextual surfaced. As discussed below,
this was particularly visible when young people
talked about wanting better things, or to receive
more benefits, as a result of the flow of their data.
These discussions highlighted that some flows of
information were deemed more desirable than others,
depending on context. Critically, they also highlighted
that commercial considerations were part
of the criteria young people were using in deciding
which flows they felt were (or not) appropriate.
Do young people trust technology with their
privacy
Despite being described as " right " and a positive
concept, the workshops uncovered deep misgivings
held by some of the young people about their experiences
of privacy in the digital world. As one young
man put it " the only way I make myself feel private is
by just outright lying to myself and telling myself that
the information that I get stolen online won't affect
me that much. "
The polling and survey data collected reflects
this and highlighted a significant " trust gap " when
it came to how young people felt their personal
information was handled. We asked young people
if they trusted that their personal information would
be handled carefully and found that very roughly
a third trusted that their personal information was
being handled with care, a third did not trust their
personal information was handled carefully and the
rest were not sure if they distrusted the way their data
was handled (see Figure 1).
We asked some young people to help us interpret
these findings, and they suggested that the normalization
and inevitability of privacy intrusions in their
digital worlds may help explain this answer. As one
young woman explained " if I was given that question,
I'd say 'Sweet Jesus, like no, I don't think I trust them
with my privacy.' But at the same time, you know,
I'm on every social media that there is so. And I think
a large part of that is... not caring. " Another young
78
man outlined " because you rely on it. So it's not even
about whether or not you can, you don't really have
the choice to trust it or not. You just have to use it
because everyone else is on it. It isn't about whether
or not you believe in your privacy. " The (broadly)
even split in responses may be young people's way
of reconciling the privacy paradox [14] in this survey;
as one young Antiguan put it simply " I trust them
because they are things I use on daily. "
What young people want to improve
their privacy
Privacy intrusions in the digital world may have
felt inevitable or normal, but they were not necessarily
what the young participants wanted. Young people
were able to give us clear ideas about changes
they wanted to see and list specific suggestions as
well as guiding principles to improve their sense of
privacy in the digital world.
Exploring the list of " dos and don'ts " created by
young people, and their guiding policy principles,
ten core asks were frequently repeated across areas
(and three additional Slovenian asks).
1) Control: The most frequent principle described
as important was that young people should
have control over their data. There was a sense
that young people's information was collected,
used, and sold in ways that were currently
beyond their control and that young people
were entitled to better. Specific suggestions
ranged from giving young people " the right to
delete our data " to " allowing young people or
teenagers to make their own decisions with the
available options. "
2) Transparency and meaningful consent: There
was a strong sense that young people were often
" pushed or tricked " into personal information
collection, from opaque privacy policies to
smartphones secretly " eavesdropping " on conversations.
The young people in Australia wanted
cookies renamed " data grabbers, " and the
young people in Slovenia wanted " translations
of apps and programs " into Slovenian. There
was an overarching belief that young people
deserved more honest and clear information
about how their personal information would be
used, especially from commercial platforms.
3) Restricting or ending targeted advertising: There
was consensus that the current state of play-
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