Digital technologies provide both interpersonal and institutional risks for users, and children are particularly vulnerable, given their limited understanding of these risks. This chapter reviews the current state of literature on children’s understanding of technology as it relates to digital privacy and tracking, focusing especially on children under 14 years of age and their parents. Existing work paints a complex picture of children’s privacy representations wherein children show sophisticated thinking regarding some aspects of privacy and tracking (including types of information, interpersonal privacy risks, and benefits of tracking), but also struggle to represent other privacy concepts such as institutional privacy risks, how/when data is accessed, and the diverse entities that might access it. Directions for future research include a greater focus on children younger than 12 years of age, developing and testing effective educational interventions for children and their parents, and research informing child-appropriate design of privacy information and controls. Recommendations include a research-informed consideration of child age in regulatory requirements, practicing privacy by design in addition to legal compliance, introducing meaningful education at earlier ages, and improving transparency regarding data collection in trusted contexts, such as healthcare and educational settings.

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Children’s Understanding of Digital Tracking and Digital Privacy

  • Susan A. Gelman,
  • Shaylene E. Nancekivell,
  • Young-eun Lee,
  • Florian Schaub

摘要

Digital technologies provide both interpersonal and institutional risks for users, and children are particularly vulnerable, given their limited understanding of these risks. This chapter reviews the current state of literature on children’s understanding of technology as it relates to digital privacy and tracking, focusing especially on children under 14 years of age and their parents. Existing work paints a complex picture of children’s privacy representations wherein children show sophisticated thinking regarding some aspects of privacy and tracking (including types of information, interpersonal privacy risks, and benefits of tracking), but also struggle to represent other privacy concepts such as institutional privacy risks, how/when data is accessed, and the diverse entities that might access it. Directions for future research include a greater focus on children younger than 12 years of age, developing and testing effective educational interventions for children and their parents, and research informing child-appropriate design of privacy information and controls. Recommendations include a research-informed consideration of child age in regulatory requirements, practicing privacy by design in addition to legal compliance, introducing meaningful education at earlier ages, and improving transparency regarding data collection in trusted contexts, such as healthcare and educational settings.