Danubius International Conferences, 3rd International Conference on Education in the Digital Era
Demographic differences in the personal data protection behaviour of European Union citizens: An Analysis of Information Society Indicators
Last modified: 2024-07-24
Abstract
This study examines the influence of gender and age on personal data protection behaviour, using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to assess eight Information Society indicators. Data are extracted from Eurostat's annual EU survey on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) usage in households and by individuals. The results show significant gender and age differences in awareness of using cookies, changing browser settings to limit cookies, using software to limit online tracking, and checking website security. Women have lower level of concern about the protection of their personal data and less likely to take steps such as read privacy statements and check the security of websites. In contrast, men, especially younger men, tended to be more worried about these issues and were more likely to take online security measures. These findings highlight the need for fitted policies to address the different needs of internet users and the importance of developing educational strategies to increase awareness and adoption of online security measures.
