The Implications of Privacy in the Growing Technological World

Kayla Douglas

Mentor: Dr. Foad Hamidi

Department of Information Systems, The DARE Lab, UMBC

There is much room for improvement when it comes to privacy and knowing what it means for consumers. Already technology has issues connecting with its users that have special circumstances and needs. However, compromising privacy can easily become a problem for most or all groups of consumers. The aim of this research is to identify and bring attention to these issues with informing and bringing awareness. By allowing volunteers to complete the Privacy Checklist, researchers and volunteers are able to not only point out the gaps in knowledge about their privacy online, but also find ways to combat them. This includes factors such as cookies, third party groups, even terms of service among numerous others. The exact methods and results have yet to be determined. However, the gaps and patterns that may be identified throughout my research can significantly benefit consumers of the internet and technology alike by informing them about possible threats to their privacy, as well as help propose solutions to problems if they occur repeatedly.