Self-protection of online privacy: a behavioral approach

Major shifts in information and communication technologies often reshape the ways in which we produce and share personal information. For example, the development of writing systems allowed personal information to be recorded and stored; the invention of printing technology made it easy to reproduce private information and distribute it to the public; and electronic communications maximized the efficiency and the speed of information sharing. Each of these technological advancements forced human society to redefine the boundaries between the public and private and to re-conceptualize the concept of personal privacy. Not surprisingly, advances in digital communication technologies and the rapid proliferation of social media during the last two decades have once again challenged our views about privacy and privacy protection.