Predictors of online privacy paradox behavior among students

In this exploratory study we investigate the attitudes and influential factors of users' tendency to online privacy paradox behavior, i.e. the inconsistency in users' online privacy attitudes and their online privacy behavior. Various factors related to online privacy and anonymity were considered, such as user's concern for the protection of personal information on the Web in general and particularly on social networks, user online privacy literacy and field of study. To this end, a user study was carried out among 169 students of the Israeli academia, via a quantitative method using closed-ended questionnaires. The multivariate linear regression analysis showed that Computer Science and Information science students had a significantly lower tendency to privacy paradox behavior compared to students who study Accounting and business management. In addition, as the participants' concern for the protection of personal information on the Web increases, their tendency to privacy paradox behavior decreases