In an increasingly digital, increasingly connected world, where personal data is collected, analysed and shared at a dizzying pace, safeguarding and protecting this information means defending the fundamental rights of every individual. It is precisely this that reminds us, every year, of Data Protection Day, first established on 28 January 2006, the date on which ‘Convention 108’ – the Council of Europe’s data protection convention – was opened for signature.
Today, on its 19th anniversary, the Foundation for Digital SustainabilityObservatory presents its report ‘Privacy and Security‘, revealing how, in Italy, general awareness of the importance of data protection is often lower than its actual relevance.
And also highlighting how belonging to different urban contexts – between large and small towns – sometimes significantly shifts the perceptions of Italian citizens on this issue.
‘Digital sustainability cannot be separated from responsible data management,’ commented Stefano Epifani, President of the Foundation for Digital Sustainability.
“Digital platforms, now central to everyday activities, rely heavily on user-generated information. However, it is crucial that the development of these technologies takes place within a framework of full protection of privacy, giving individuals control over their data and preventing misuse. In a context where there is no longer a ‘real’ and a ‘virtual’, but at most an ‘analogue’ and a ‘digital’, and at a time when an increasingly important part of our lives is intermediated by digital platforms, it is crucial that citizens realise the value of privacy, and that institutions take action to ensure its protection‘.
Online privacy: is there a cultural digital divide?
25%: this is the percentage of Italian citizens who consider it essential to rethink privacy in the digital age. A figure that reflects a degree of awareness that is still not particularly high in the population, especially considering that an almost similar percentage of respondents (24%) say they do not share this need.
More specifically, while in the large centres 30% of citizens consider it important to redefine the concept of privacy against 20% who do not consider it necessary, in the small centres these percentages are reversed, with 29% of the inhabitants not feeling the need for a change against 19% who, instead, consider it important. These results can be interpreted as the effect of the cultural digital divide: it is in fact in large centres, which are more exposed to technological challenges and privacy issues, that the issue is perceived as more urgent, while in small centres it appears less relevant.
The power of social networks. One Italian in two needs stricter regulation
But what do citizens think of social networks, tools that are increasingly at the centre of the social life and daily activities of a large part of the population? The research shows, first of all, how many Italians believe they have too much power in influencing behaviour: three out of four interviewees (75%) consider this influence to be significant, while 25% consider it to be irrelevant. Again, in large centres the concern is more evident: 31% of respondents here believe that social media exert a strong power, compared to 15% in small centres. Opinions are similar among the different groups analysed, but the group of the less digitised and less concerned about sustainability issues – especially in small centres – shows very little awareness (only 5% of them recognise a high power to platforms). This result seems to depend on a limited exposure to these dynamics, and underlines a cultural gap compared to those who are more familiar with the use of these tools.
The opinions on regulation are also interesting, where a situation of uncertainty and inconsistency emerges in small rather than large centres. Overall, about half of the respondents agree on the need for stricter regulation. However, in small centres, 62% of the respondents believe that the internal rules of the platforms are sufficient, although 68% of them, when specifically asked, call for stricter rules. In large centres, on the other hand, a more consistent and conscious view prevails: 50% of respondents oppose self-regulation of platforms alone, compared to 38% of residents in small centres. In short, also in this case, the variable of the context of residence seems to have a strong influence on the degree of attention towards digital dynamics and, in this specific case, towards the implications of social network regulation.
Other people’s privacy? Important, but not for everyone
The research also shows that only just under one in four Italians (24%) always pay close attention to the privacy of others when publishing content online, while 26% say they do not care at all. In large centres, the percentage of those who always check the impact on other people’s privacy rises to 31%, dropping to 17% in small centres, where 32% of respondents say they pay no attention at all. Looking at the different clusters considered, the most scrupulous are the most digitally-savvy and sustainability-conscious people (46% regularly), but users with less digital skills, but sensitive to sustainability, also show a significant degree of attention.
In this direction, the report also devoted ample space to the issue of responsibility for content on social networks. In large centres, more than half of those interviewed (56%) believe that the responsibility for content published on platforms should fall on the users who produce it: a much more widespread position than in small centres, where the percentage drops to 41%. On the contrary, in small towns about one in four citizens (23%) attribute the task of controlling content to the State, while in large towns the ratio drops to just one in ten (10%). This difference in views highlights how in smaller urban contexts there is greater reliance on institutions, unlike in large centres where, by virtue of greater digital literacy and knowledge of online dynamics, a more decentralised vision prevails.
A culture of online privacy is needed
Different perceptions in different territorial contexts are also found by shifting attention to the relationship between privacy and personalisation of digital services. Overall, 45% of Italians believe that privacy is little or not at all expendable compared to personalisation, but in small centres this percentage drops to 39%. In large centres, on the other hand, more than half of the respondents (52%) firmly reject the idea that personalisation should take precedence over privacy, a sign of a greater awareness of the risks associated with the manipulation of personal data.
In the era of digital transformation, where an increasingly important part of our lives is mediated by platforms, the protection of privacy is no longer an option but a real necessity, requiring greater awareness on the part of all.
The results of the research show – net of the differences existing in different urban contexts – how the road is still long, and the importance of investing in widespreaddigital literacy to make citizens aware of the risks we all face. In this direction, days such as today’s represent a crucial opportunity to stimulate a shared reflection on these issues, and to lay the foundations for the construction of a more rooted and aware online privacy culture.