1. Home
  2. Studies
  3. The Privacy Preferences of Young People in Germany
Barbara Engels IW-Trends No. 2 21. May 2018 The Privacy Preferences of Young People in Germany

Data are the key resource of the digital economy and thus highly coveted by a wide range of firms. ManyInternet users are willing to barter their personal information for the use of online services which are otherwise free of charge.

Download PDF
The Privacy Preferences of Young People in Germany
Barbara Engels IW-Trends No. 2 21. May 2018

The Privacy Preferences of Young People in Germany

IW-Trends

German Economic Institute (IW) German Economic Institute (IW)

Data are the key resource of the digital economy and thus highly coveted by a wide range of firms. ManyInternet users are willing to barter their personal information for the use of online services which are otherwise free of charge.

Indeed, there is often a considerable discrepancy between a user‘s specified privacy preference and actual behaviour on the Internet. Young Internet users readily reveal a great deal of personal data because, as digital natives, they have grown up with the Internet. Young people pursue a wealth of different activities online, duly leaving behind them a trail of personal information which many online services, such as the social networks, process and sell. To find out more, this study by the German Economic Institute (IW) examined the privacy preferences of digital natives. 3,000 German school students aged 14 to 21 were surveyed on their use and perception of data protection on popular social media and networks. They were additionally asked about their willingness to pay for online services which better protect their data. The study shows that while privacy is important to many digital natives, most are unwilling to pay for it. And while there are some who appear prepared to pay for more privacy, the outlay they envisage is mostly small. A critical attitude to data exploitation by online services does not usually result in those services not being used.

Download PDF
The Privacy Preferences of Young People in Germany
Barbara Engels IW-Trends No. 2 21. May 2018

Barbara Engels: Datenschutzpräferenzen von Jugendlichen in Deutschland - Ergebnisse einer Schülerbefragung

IW-Trends

German Economic Institute (IW) German Economic Institute (IW)

More on the topic

Read the article
The Costs and Benefits of Continuing Further Training
Susanne Seyda / Beate Placke IW-Trends No. 4 4. December 2017

The 9th IW Survey of Further Training

In 2016 some 85 per cent of companies in Germany were active in continuing vocational training, using a broad mix of methods.

IW

Read the article
IW Research Group Macroeconomic Analysis and Forecast IW-Trends No. 4 27. November 2017

Has the German Economy Reached its Limit?: Skilled Labour Shortages as a Brake on Growth

The German economy is performing significantly better than was expected in the first few months of this year. During the course of 2017, certain early fears – especially of a weakening of the global economy due to increasing protectionism – have proved ...

IW

Content element with id 8880 Content element with id 9713