Revealing Cumulative Risks in Online Personal Information: A Data Narrative Study

Abstract

When pieces from an individual's personal information available online are connected over time and across multiple platforms, this more complete digital trace can give unintended insights into their life and opinions. In a data narrative interview study with 26 currently employed participants, we examined risks and harms to individuals and employers when others joined the dots between their online information. We discuss the themes of visibility and self-disclosure, unintentional information leakage and digital privacy literacies constructed from our analysis. We contribute insights not only into people's difficulties in recalling and conceptualising their digital traces but of subsequently envisioning how their online information may be combined, or (re)identified across their traces and address a current gap in research by showing that awareness is lacking around the potential for personal information to be correlated by and made coherent to/by others, posing risks to individuals, employers, and even the state. We touch on inequalities of privacy, freedom and legitimacy that exist for different groups with regard to what they make (or feel compelled to make) available online and we contribute to current methodological work on the use of sketching to support visual sense making in data narrative interviews. We conclude by discussing the need for interventions that support personal reflection on the potential visibility of combined digital traces to spotlight hidden vulnerabilities, and promote more proactive action about what is shared and not shared online.

Do IT users behave responsibly in terms of cybercrime protection?

“…To increase the level of responsibility, it is vital to promote users' motivational behaviour to protect themselves and companies from cyber threats (Li et al, 2022). One should also be aware that a person's activities on the Internet can have a digital footprint that can lead to distortion of information about him and help cybercriminals (Nicol et al, 2022). Therefore, cyber hygiene should be observed, i.e.…”

"“My sex-related data is more sensitive than my financial data and I want the same level of security and privacy\": User Risk Perceptions and Protective Actions in Female-oriented Technologies"

“…The interview questions were supplemented by asking the participants to hand-draw sketches of their digital ecosystem on paper. In addition, in [49], in order to facilitate the interviews on the management of individuals' personal data, the participants were invited to draw a map of their data and complete this over the course of the interview.…”

Everyday digital traces

“…Our objective in designing the method and carrying out the study was to gain insights into people's awareness of cumulative risk exposure within their ‘everyday’ online information-sharing practices, and across their personal and working lives. In doing so, we built on from research using Data Narrative Inquiry (Vertesi et al, 2016; Nicol et al, 2022). Outcomes from an earlier interview study involving 26 participants aged between 20 and 59 years who were active online and in full-time employment revealed that participants conceptualised their online practices in discrete idiographic form rather than as connected.…”

“…To do this, we created digital traces from a ‘day in the life’ of the fictional Alex Smith, intended as a gender-neutral persona constructed by participants from information posted online by or about Alex. We trialled this method with nine individuals recruited from a previous interview study (Nicol et al, 2022), inviting them to enact one of two roles: Alex's new employer or an insurance agent opportunistically selling nonspecific policies. Our contribution comprises knowledge of ordinary people's imaginings of their everyday digital traces and presents three key findings from our analysis of the literature and our study: (1) how, and to what extent, people cope with and manage everyday data; (2) the haunting effects and affects of peer-to-peer surveillance and (3) post-digital identities.…”