Conference 25 Years CRC Leiden Law School, Leiden University Leiden, 19 November 2014
FP7-288021
Protecting children’s privacy in the online context. A legal perspective
Avv. Alessandro Mantelero
kA
Politecnico di Torino Aggregate Professor Nexa Center for Internet and Society Director of Privacy Sino-Italian Research Center for Internet Torts, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology Research Consultant
There is a wide debate among scholars on teenage behaviour in the online environment (e.g. Danah Boyd, Sandra Cortesi, Urs Gasser, Sonia Livingstone) Various studies demonstrated that teens share a wide range of information about themselves in the online environment. Nevertheless, teens show an increased consciousness of the value of personal information and of consequences of personal data sharing.
The different approach of this study: The study focuses on the aspects of online behaviour related to regulatory profiles, namely online privacy and security
Protecting children’s privacy in the online context. A legal perspective A. Mantelero © 2014
Structure of the study Pilot survey Geographical area: Piedmont (Italy, north-west region, official population: 4.446.230) Period: 2013-14 Structure: 35 questions, 7 sections First sample • Lower secondary school student (12-14) • Dimension of the sample: 435 students (respondent rate = 96.1%) Second sample (stratified sample, two strata) • Upper secondary school students (15-19) • Dimension of the sample: 1051 students (respondent rate = 91.54%) Protecting children’s privacy in the online context. A legal perspective A. Mantelero © 2014
Key general findings In the second sample, the results show that different educational backgrounds do not affect teen online behaviour. There are not relevant differences between students with a background in humanities and students with a technological of scientific background.
Teenagers mainly use personal computers to access Internet services, but there is an increasing use of mobile connections and gaming consoles (among male students of lower secondary school)
Protecting children’s privacy in the online context. A legal perspective A. Mantelero © 2014
Devices (blue = computer, red = smartphone, green = gaming console) 2nd yr, lower secondary s.
2nd yr, upper secondary s.
5th yr, upper secondary s.
Legal implications: mobile devices make it easier to identify and profile users (real name policy, identity-privacy-trust)
Protecting children’s privacy in the online context. A legal perspective A. Mantelero © 2014
The nature of teens’ networks Social networks are mainly used to remain connected with family members and existing friends. There is a low interest in using social networks to make new friends and it decreases with the age of respondents. Use of SNs to remain connected with family members Relevance (blue = high, red = low, green = irrelevant) 2nd yr, lower secondary s.
2nd yr, upper secondary s.
5th yr, upper secondary s.
Protecting children’s privacy in the online context. A legal perspective A. Mantelero © 2014
Use of SNs to remain connected with existing friends Relevance (blue = high, red = low, green = irrelevant) 2nd yr, lower secondary s.
2nd yr, upper secondary s.
5th yr, upper secondary s.
Use of SNs to make new friends Relevance (blue = high, red = low, green = irrelevant)
Protecting children’s privacy in the online context. A legal perspective A. Mantelero © 2014
How many friends do you have on Facebook? Number of online “friends” (green = 51-100, yellow = 101-200, dark green = 201-500, brown = >500) 2nd yr, lower secondary s.
2nd yr, upper secondary s.
5th yr, upper secondary s.
Legal implications: definition of the border between private and public life, disclosure of private facts, right to be forgotten, “household exception”
Protecting children’s privacy in the online context. A legal perspective A. Mantelero © 2014
Awareness of persistent nature of online information The results show that the awareness increases with the age of the respondents. Have you ever decided not to post something online because you were concerned it would reflect badly on you in the future? (blue = yes, red = no, green = undecided) 2nd yr, lower secondary s.
2nd yr, upper secondary s.
5th yr, upper secondary s.
Legal implications: right to be forgotten
Protecting children’s privacy in the online context. A legal perspective A. Mantelero © 2014
Online safety Parents and other members of the family play a central role in giving first information on online safety. The importance of these figures decreases with the age of the respondents, while the role of teachers and media is more relevant to older respondents. (blue = parents, red/green = other family members, dark green = teachers, brown = media) 2nd yr, upper secondary s. 5th yr, upper secondary s. 2nd yr, lower secondary s.
Legal implications: The importance of promoting privacy awareness and providing educational tools, privacy by design Protecting children’s privacy in the online context. A legal perspective A. Mantelero © 2014
Data protection and the “notice & consent” model The results of the survey confirm that the traditional data protection model based on “notice & consent” is going into crisis. The respondents are aware of privacy risks and they know how to manage their profiles, nevertheless they have low interest in reading privacy notices. They consider notices unclear, difficult to find or unnecessary. In many case, respondents give importance to the mere fact that an online service has published its privacy policies. Respondents consider the general reputation of a service provider as an important reason for their choice. Legal implications: the new EU Proposal for a General Data Protection Regulation (“notice & consent” model, accountability, standardised icons)
Protecting children’s privacy in the online context. A legal perspective A. Mantelero © 2014
Alessandro Mantelero http://staff.polito.it/alessandro.mantelero http://nexa.polito.it/people/amantelero
[email protected] @mantelero
Protecting children’s privacy in the online context. Protecting children’s in the online context. A legalprivacy perspective A legal perspective A. Mantelero © 2014
