Privacy and Security in the Brave New World: The Use of Multiple Mental Models

We live in a world where the flow of electronic information and communication has become a ubiquitous part of our everyday life. While our lives are enhanced in many ways, we also experience a myriad of challenges especially to our privacy and security. Survey data shows that the majority of people are 'very concerned' about privacy and security but that they don't always act in ways to protect their privacy. Our goal was to explore how participants understand and experience privacy and security as they engage in online activities. To that end we used a qualitative approach to understand the participants' mental models of online privacy and security. The data from our 40 interviews show that users have multiple mental models that guide their understanding of and experience with privacy and security. These mental models not only operate simultaneously but are rarely fully formed and often contradict each other.

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