Researchers at the Centre for Social Informatics published an article in the journal Information, Communication & Society
Jošt Bartol, Dr. Kelly Quinn, Dr. Vasja Vehovar, and Dr. Andraž Petrovčič published an original research article titled “Dimensions of vertical and horizontal information privacy concerns: a qualitative reassessment and revised definition” in Information, Communication & Society, a top-tier journal in the field of communication and internet studies.
The internet and related technologies are significantly co-shaping our society. They are changing the way we work, socialise, access information and transmit messages. All of this has important implications for our information privacy. In the literature, individuals' views on their information privacy are often discussed through the notion of information privacy concerns. The concept was introduced already in the 1960s and more precisely defined at the turn of the millennium. However, recent years have witnessed major advances in the internet environment, which may pose new challenges for individuals' information privacy.
The main objective of the published study was to understand contemporary internet users’ information privacy concerns. The authors paid particular attention to the differences between vertical and horizontal information privacy. The former describes privacy relationships between an individual and institutions, and the latter privacy relationships among individuals. Through an in-depth qualitative analysis, the researchers identified four main dimensions of information privacy concerns: information accessibility, unauthorised sharing, unsolicited communication, and vulnerability. On this basis, they developed an updated definition of information privacy concerns that extends existing conceptualizations by highlighting concerns about the persistence of information and its misuse for discrimination and manipulation. The study also suggests important differences in the antecedents and consequences of vertical and horizontal information privacy concerns. In this way, the study enriches our understanding of one of the key concepts in the field of research on internet privacy.
The study was conducted as part of Jošt Bartol's Young Researcher fellowship and co-financed by research projects J5-2558 (The Implications of Proxy Internet Use for the Internet Skills of Older Adults), J5-60096 (Internet Privacy Management and Digital Inequalities among Older Internet Users), and V5-2275 (Digital Inequalities and Older Adults in Slovenia), as well as the research programme P5-0399 (Internet research).