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| Friday, 09 September 2011 11:05 |
Juveniles Do Care About Data Protection In The Web
In the Generation Innovation Internship, hosted by the research group "Quality Engineering" five pupils could experience science in a hands-on matter at the Institute of Computer Science.
Results of their study show: Security of personal data is an important issue for Tyrolean youngsters. This roots in the fact, that most of them grew up with social networks. Among the youngest the desire for data protection is least pronounced. Among the 13-15 year olds three out of four would share their own location online, whereas 60 % of the 19-21 year olds would not object to do so. Awaken Enthusiasm "Using the Generation Innovation Internships we want to excite young people for science", says Prof. Dr. Ruth Breu, head of the research group. "We show our participants that Computer Science is a highly communicative and cooperative discipline." Firstly the participants get a grasp of the topic by establishing the status quo and by analysing relevant publications. Using these insights they developed their own online survey, which determines the personal attitude towards data protection. This survey was distributed via various channels. In total 126, mainly Tyrolean, adolescents took part in the survey. In the meantime the interns learnt how to realise own software projects using the game programming environment Greenfoot. Finally they analysed the results of the survey in a study. Generation Innovation Every year, the Austrian research organisation FFG supports internships for pupils at universities and companies with a focus on technical and natural sciences. The Institute of Computer Science participated in this initiative the second time already. Again 5 pupils were accepted for the internships and conducted research at our Institute. At the end of their internships the participants presented the results of their study to an audience consisting of researchers. |
The knowledge relating to data protection and data security is strongly correlated to the increasing age of surveyed users. In general Facebook did not receive high ratings regarding clarity of privacy settings - over 80 % of the participants graded Facebook with "average" or worse. Even with newer, more innovative functionalities Facebook cannot score among the target audience. Automated face recognition, which will also be used in Austria in the near future was graded 4,6 (1 being best, 5 being worst). Future developments remain exciting: "Facebook promised to improve privacy settings by the end of September" says Sonja Mayr, one of the internship participants.