The Price of Privacy

Rivka RibakDepartment of Communication

University of Haifa, Israel

Outline

The prevalent discourseAbout technologyAbout globalization

The Israeli case: research findingsThe argument:

Privacy is a culturally-specific notionIts price is negotiated between local practices and global forces

The inevitable eye:Technological determinism

Surveillance is inevitably implicated in advanced communication technologyEvidence for this link may be found in

The scope of academic publications on the issueThe growth of data protection industryThe recurrence of popular depictions of this link and its consequences

Big Brother comes from the US:Cultural Imperialism

American culture is preoccupied with privacyThis preoccupation is built into the technology produced for and by itGlobalization consists of the spread of US technology, and the ideology that is embedded in it, to the world

Qualifying unidirectional determinism:

Technology as a dialogic practicePrivacy is constructed at the interface of hardware, software and user, as they are embedded in cultural and political contexts, over time

Globalization as a dialogic practicePrivacy is constructed at the meeting of local cultures and global political-economical forces, in history

The price of privacy:Two case studies—

Captain Internet HaAretz supplement

Discursive construction of privacy for/among Israeli surfers

Cross-cultural inter-generational survey

Privacy practices of Israeli parents and their adolescent children as compared to their US counterparts

Captain Internet

Weekly supplement, March 1997 –April 2002 (Jan. 2004 on-line edition)

As compared to being Wired, The Captain adopts a distant perspective:

Views the internet in the historical context of books, radio and televisionIs conscious of local practices that undermine global trends

The discourse of privacy

Growth in the number of references:

11 in 1998 – 17 – 20 – 30 in 2001

The pragmatic discourse, translated into a calculation of “the price,” remains

Privacy and culture

Privacy is a basic American value, 9.98

We’re Americans, that is, we’re right, 9.01In Israel, privacy protection means storing your information in the closet, 8.99

Privacy and technology

Doubtless there is nothing that concerns the average surfer more than the violation of his/her privacy, 6.01

Privacy is like the weather, 1.02Information can be easily protected using software, 6.01

Privacy and the price

You have zero privacy anyway, get over it (McNealy).

Birnhak, 4.02

If the price of light is a little less privacy, then I am willing to pay it.

Rafaeli, 2.02

If everybody would enter using nicknames, it would ruin it.

Unger, 4.02

The surveyIn collaboration with Prof. Joe Turow

Questionnaire: 1,000 adults, 300 adolescents, US, January 2000

http://www.appcpenn.org/04_info_society/family/FAMILY.HTM

Questions translated into Hebrew

Questionnaire: 1,000 adults, 300 children, Israel, January 2001

General perceptions and use patternsIdeas about privacy and practices of information exposure

Privacy findings:Cross-cultural resemblance

Is it OK for a teenager to answer questions like these on a web site?

Israelis tend to agree more; BUTFor most items, no more than 40% of the parents in both cultures agree that their children will expose informationFew parents in either culture are willing to expose this information themselves (20% of the Israelis, 24% in the US)

Privacy findings:Differences in the concern

My concern about outsiders learning sensitive information has increased since we've gone online: 37%, 60%I am nervous about web sites having information about me: 52%, 72%When I go to a web site, it collects information about me even if I do not register: 31%, 54%

Privacy findings:Differences in loci of responsibility

Teenagers should have to get their parents’ consent before giving out information online: 80%, 96%

Agree strongly: 43%, 84

I should have a legal right to know everything that a web site knows about me: 71%, 95% (43%, 88%)

I look to see if a web site has a privacy policy before answering any questions: 46%, 72% (18%, 53%)

Privacy findings:Differences in experience

Have any of your children ever given out information he or she shouldn’t to web sites? 47%, 10%Do you currently use an internet monitor on your home computer? 4%, 19%

Have you heard of an internet monitor before? 33%, 78%

If someone offered to help you put an internet monitor for free, would you want it? 43%, 82%

Findings: Access

Have you personally ever gone on-line? 64%, 94%

No significant differences between parents who do and do not surf

Abilities to go on-line: similarExpert + advanced: 26%, 30%Intermediate + beginner: 64%, 66%

I often worry that I won’t be able to explore the web with my children as well as other parents do: 48%, 26%

Findings:Differences in enthusiasm

Access to the internet at home helps my children with their school work: 17%, 86%Online, my children discover fascinating, useful things: 10%, 85%The internet is a safe place for my children to spend time: 25%, 51%

Findings:Differences in concern

Going online too often might lead children to become isolated from other people: 31%, 59%I am concerned that my children might view sexually explicit images on the internet: 28%, 72%

View violent images: 31%, 62%

I am concerned that children give out personal information when visiting web sites or chat rooms: 24%, 74%

Findings: Practice

How often have you read a privacy policy on the web? 25%, 60%Have you ever bought anything over the internet? 30%, 53%

Conclusion:Cross-cultural differences

Cross-cultural differences in:Appreciating the promise and the threat of the webPatterns of useThe meaning of privacy

THUS, technology does not determine (the price of) privacy

Conclusion:Complicated interrelationships

Israeli parents: the kids are responsibleUS parents: tripartite responsibility—parents, state, suppliers

Israeli parents: mellowUS parents: enthusiastic, concerned

Both resent excessive exposureTHUS: Globalization works in many levels and directions

References, links, contact:

Internet power and social context: A globalization approach to Web privacy concerns Rivka Ribak, Joseph Turow. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media. Washington: Sep 2003. Vol. 47, Iss. 3;  pg. 328http://www.hevra.haifa.ac.il/com/faculty-panorama/rivki.htmVideo-conference lecture by Prof. Joseph Turow, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania: Americans and internet privacy, sponsored by CRI, Sept 26, 2003

rribak@research.haifa.ac.il

Thank You – Toda

rribak@research.haifa.ac.il