Mastering boundaries: differences in online privacy boundary phenomena across digital devices and years

Laurent H. Wang, Ronald E. Rice, Xingyu Liu, Ingunn Hagen and Nicole Zamanzadeh

Behaviour and Information Technology, 2025, vol. 44, issue 15, 3750-3770

Abstract: Multiple digital communication devices provide varying capabilities and processes for self-disclosure, surveillance, and privacy management, therefore eliciting a variety of user privacy perceptions and behaviours. Drawing from the media mastery framework and the comparative privacy research framework, this study investigates similarities and differences in online privacy outcomes associated with computer and mobile phone use via content analysis of 12 focus groups conducted with US college students in 2006 and 2016. Findings reveal similarities and differences across device type and time and their combinations among selected privacy-related codes from the media mastery framework. Cluster analysis of the codes reveals several general themes such as crossing the boundary from private to public, and safety and trust. Contributions include the use of a reliable conceptual foundation for categorising online privacy boundary phenomena, the generation of discussions about these phenomena from a goal-free evaluation approach, and comparisons across devices and time. The discussion provides theoretical and practical implications.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/0144929X.2024.2448706

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