Privacy Under Pressure: A Survey of Privacy Expectations in the Modern Age

Abstract

Cell site location information (CSLI) data is currently on the forefront of the privacy law debate but remains unresolved and unregulated by the judiciary. In accordance with the second prong of the Katz test, public perception is vital in resolving the legal contest surrounding CSLI. This study examines the privacy expectations of 1320 college students at Middle Tennessee State University. A privacy scale was created from 1 to 72. The higher the score, the higher the privacy expectation. This study found that men tend to have stronger privacy expectations than women by 1.83 points on average. African Americans were found to have the highest expectation of privacy at 48.44, while Asians reported the lowest at 43.78. Privacy expectation was positively correlated with age although the correlation is weak (R=.115). Overall, respondents held high privacy expectations regardless of demographic factors. All tests were found to be statistically significant.