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Torres

Page history last edited by ted.coopman@... 11 years, 11 months ago

Topic: Privacy/Ethics

 

Research Question:

Comparing ROTC and non-ROTC students’ attitudes towards online privacy and their actual behaviors towards online privacy settings

 

How you gathered your data, challenges you faced, things you learned about research (100-200 words max)

            In this research project I utilized two methods for collecting the necessary data. The first method had to come from an online source, so I created an online survey using surveymonkey.com, 40 online surveys where created and sent out; friends at SJSU and SCU who had facebook accounts where the only recipients. I began analyzing the surveys and comparing ROTC and non-ROTC student’s behaviors and attitudes. I learned immediately that no matter the students affiliation to the ROTC or not; nobody enjoys answering survey questions.

            The second method I utilized for this research study where four face-to-face interviews regarding privacy setting on Facebook. The first interviewee was a senior ROTC cadet Dolci A, Dolci was very helpful and demonstrated a high degree of knowledge in online privacy settings. The second interviewee came from a SJSU non-ROTC student Rosendo, Rosendo answered all of the questions and had a higher concept of what it’s expected of an organization like Facebook. The third person I interviewed was Julie B, Julie is a non-ROTC SJSU Communication Studies student. The fourth student was Brigitte Clark; Clark is a Santa Clara University junior ROTC cadet. I conducted this interview on Monday April 23, 2012 at 0645 a.m. during our physical fitness test. The difficulties I faced during this project was with the survey process this online process was very difficult, because of my busy schedule I was not able to keep up with them.

Copy and paste your discussion section here

 

Findings & Discussion

 

            Privacy and security training is a must. The uncertainty in our national security has kept the American people at edge. National security has been a foremost concern for many Americans, due to the 9/11 attacks. Given the advancements in technologies around the world, the uncertainty in national security is well documented. The U.S government always has tried to keep all of its military forces well informed online and offline from threats to service members and non-military citizens. Our government informs service members through training, either via CMT or classroom instruction. ROTC students receive free privacy and security training from the government, representing training that is not available to the general public.

 

            When analyzing the data that was collected from both the surveys and interviews, I will be careful not to over-analyze the surveys and interviews by the ROTC students, because of my affiliation to the ROTC program. In addition, the survey collection still is ongoing, and I will continue to analyze these study findings, as time permits.

 

Data Collected

 

            ROTC students juggle work, ROTC, and school at the same time, which makes it extremely difficult for me to ask them for any additional work. At this point in the study, only 22 surveys have been collected and analyzed. Because of the recent ROTC field exercise, I was unable to push the cadets to participate in the survey and/or interview. The breakdown of the completed surveys is: 3 senior students, 3 junior ROTC students, 9 sophomore ROTC students, and 7 non-ROTC students. This survey did not collect demographic data, a drawback that is annotated in the limitations portion of my study.

 

            Four interviews were collected in the current study. The first interviewee was Dolci Adam, a senior SJSU ROTC cadet, who was very helpful and demonstrated a high degree of knowledge in online privacy settings. I conducted the interview with Dolci via phone on Saturday, April 21, 2012.

 

The second interviewee was Rafael, a senior business, non-ROTC student at SJSU. Rafael answered all of the questions and had a higher concept of what is expected of a company such as FB. I conducted the interview with Rafael in person on Saturday, April 21, 2012.

 

The third person I interviewed was Julie B., a non-ROTC Communication Studies student at SJSU, who I interviewed over the phone on a Sunday afternoon. Julie has had an above-average experience regarding privacy settings on FB.

 

The fourth student I interviewed was Brigitte Clark, a junior ROTC cadet at Santa Clara University. I interviewed Brigitte Clark on Monday April 23, 2012 at 06:50 a.m. during a physical fitness exam at Santa Clara University.

Knowledge

 

            Operational security (Opsec)* is very important to the U.S government. An example of why operational security is so important stems from the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan in which U.S service member’s uploaded un-sanitized views of war into their FB user accounts. (Wall, 2007) The realization that the U.S national security can be hurt by CMC is emphasized deeply in the training modules that service members receive. The military’s civil affair units always have had a hand in shaping and disseminating war stories around the globe, but now the Department of Defense (DOD) finds them-selves in a new territory that has not been explored.

 

            Per FB privacy rules & regulations, “When you publish content or information using the Public setting, it means that you are allowing everyone, including people off of Facebook, to access and use that information, and to associate it with you (i.e., your name and profile picture).” (Facebook.com/privacy) Understanding the full features of FB is very important. Once you upload to any SNS, the posting basically is there forever.

 

            According to Anden–Papadopoulos (2009), SNS aids in disseminating war stories and photographs on a global scale. For these reasons, I posed the following question to the students I interviewed, “Should the U.S government (gov) protect our privacy in SNS, like FB?” Julie, a non-ROTC student responded, “Yes, they (gov) should.” She continued, “No one should have access to our accounts without permission. FB should not be allowed to sell our user information without my consent. They (FB) should be regulated by our government.” The RALC* theory underscores Julie’s frustration and lack of understanding of what she can and cannot control in the SNS. Julie utilizes the FB for many reasons. First, she explained how she uses FB to communicate with friends with whom she prwviously had lost touch.  In addition, Julie stated that she uses FB to invite others to social events, yet she also uses FB because she wants to maintain a professional distance from people.

 

            On the other hand, cadet Dolci stated that he has a general idea of his privacy settings, but is not one-hundred percent certain if his privacy settings are set at private. Cadet Dolci, a senior SJSU ROTC student, explained that he will never upload any material that would hurt his professional life. He then speaks about the LDRSHIP Army values that have been taught to him by the ROTC professors.

            The privacy and security training that ROTC cadets receive varies in different universities. Nevertheless, all ROTC programs instill the Army values, which aid cadets in the decision-making process. The Army values are Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity and Personal Courage. Together these Army values form the acronym LDRSHIP.* For the ROTC program, it is very important to instill good leadership values. The goal is well warranted, as ROTC cadets are the men and women who will lead the U.S. military forces of the future.

 

            In addition to the LDRSHIP Army values, the ROTC program may want cadets to partake in some anti-terrorism and online training via CMT. These training modules consist of different levels in order to keep all service members well-informed and current about online and offline threats around the globe.

 

Attitudes

 

According to the surveys I sent out, 16.7% of ROTC students surveyed recalled receiving the privacy and security training. Although the percentage of trained cadets may be small, the ROTC program tends to concentrate their privacy and security training efforts on seniors and juniors. After realizing that freshmen and sophomores might not receive the privacy and security training, I illustrated this information in the limitation portion of this research study. Only three senior ROTC students participated in this study; the rest of the ROTC students in the study were juniors and sophomores.

 

            What I learned from the surveys that I sent out to all of the ROTC and non-ROTC students is that students do not pay attention to what they fill out online. When I asked the two ROTC students that I interviewed what their privacy settings were on their FB accounts, they replied that they did not know and that they did not really care, because they never upload anything that will harm them professionally. This is a reflection of Army values that ROTC program instills in every cadet, or the younger cadets just do not think that the issue is particularly important. By the time that senior ROTC students graduate from universities, however the ROTC graduates are well versed on the importance of their personal privacy and security online and offline.

 

            Cadet Clark stated that, “FB users should use sound judgment and be cautious when uploading anything on SNS, especially if you are going into the Armed Forces.”  Clark explained that photos are geographically stamped with the grid coordinates of location, and that information can be used by anyone who wishes to cause harm. Brigitte Clark is a Junior ROTC cadet at Santa Clara University who comes from a military background. Her father is a retired Colonel, a high-ranking officer in the US Army, who introduced her at a young age to the Army values. Cadet Clark stated that she hardly looks at her privacy settings, because she never uploads anything that will come back to haunt her.

 

According to the surveys, approximately 70% of the ROTC students surveyed checked their privacy settings monthly or never, compared to 20% of non-ROTC students. Per the surveys, non-ROTC students checked their privacy settings a lot more often than did ROTC students. When I asked Julie, a non-ROTC student, why she checks her user account so frequently, she replied that FB always resets her account to public whenever FB updates the system.

 

            According to the business, non-ROTC student, Rafael, businesses should have a sense of “professionalism and ethical responsibility towards users information; this information should be kept confidential unless the user allows them to disseminate it.” Rafael continued to point out the consumer expectations that should be the center of any organization’s focus on good business practice.

Behavior

 

            I was curious about cadet Dolci’s FB page, I wondered about the content and in what context all of the information was in. Cadet Docli’s FB account is set on friends & family only, but he did not realize that friends of friends where allowed to look at his photos. The photos and information that Dolci uploaded on his FB account seemed to be less intamate and more professional. It seems that he really does not want to reveal much online, like most non-ROTC students would. Clark, Brigitte has been documenting her life on facebook since she was in high school making her FB page more personal and family oriented. Cadet Clark and Dolci’s attitudes toward privacy settings are similar to their actual behaviors, but both’s knowledge of FB’s privacy settings are very low.

 

            Julie’s profile seemed less personal and less visited; Julie did state that she only utilizes FB only to communicate rather than to call someone, she likes to keep a distance from people. I was unable to see Rafael’s FB account since I did not add him to my FB account during this study, this was annotated in the limitation section of my report.

 

            To conclude, both the students demonstrated lack of knowledge of FB privacy settings; the ROTC cadets demonstrated the ability to restrain themselves from posting unprofessional information online, while non-ROTC students depend on the ethical values of the companies to the right thing and the government to intervene if privacy laws are broken.

 

 

References

 

Andén-Papadopoulos, K. (2009). Body horror on the Internet: US soldiers recording the war in Iraq             and Afghanistan. Media, Culture & Society 31(6), 921-938.

            DOI:10.1177/0163443709344040

 

Butler, E., McCann, E., and Thomas, J. (2011). Privacy setting awareness on Facebook and its effect             on user posted content. Human Communication 14 (1): 39-55.

 

Debatin, B., Lovejoy, J. P., Horn, A., & Hughes, B. N. (2009). Facebook and online privacy:             Attitudes, behaviors, and unintended consequences. Journal Of Computer-Mediated             Communication. 15(1), 83-108.

            DOI:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2009.01494.x

 

Jensen, C., Jensen, C., and Potts, C. (2005). Privacy practices of Internet users: Self-reports versus             observed behavior. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 63(1):203-            227

 

Paine, C., Reips, U., Stieger, S., Joinson, A., and Buchanan, T. (2007). Internet users’ perceptions of             ‘privacy concerns’ and ‘privacy actions’. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies             65(6): 526-536.

 

Waters, S. and Ackerman, J. (2011). Exploring privacy management on Facebook: Motivations and

            perceived consequences of voluntary disclosure. Journal of Computer-Mediated             Communication 17: 101-115.

 

Wall, M. (2007). In the battle(field): the US military, blogging and the struggle for authority.

            Media, Culture & Society 201032: 863

 

            DOI: 10.1177/0163443710374790

 


* "Operations security (OPSEC) is an analytic process used to deny an adversary information - generally unclassified - concerning friendly intentions and capabilities by identifying, controlling, and protecting indicators associated with planning processes or operations. OPSEC does not replace other security disciplines - it supplements them." (Wikipedia)

* RALC Theory To have privacy under this theory, an individual need not have absolute control over information about oneself. Instead, one needs to have control with respect to three elements in a situation: choice, consent, and correction (Tavani, 2007).

* Loyalty - Bear true faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, the Army, your unit and other soldiers. Duty - Fulfill your obligations. Respect - Treat people as they should be treated. Selfless Service - Put the welfare of the nation, the Army, and your subordinates before your own. Honor - Live up to all the Army values. Integrity - Do what’s right, legally and morally. Personal Courage - Face fear, danger, or adversity [physical or moral].

Comments (16)

Laurel Marshall said

at 8:33 am on May 3, 2012

1. Did the people you interviewed think that changing the privacy settings on Facebook would be enough of a deterrent to keep away employers or supervisors?
2. Were you able to find out the harms of not having certain privacy settings set up?
3. What kinds of questions did you ask in your interview?
4. Once people changed their settings to private, was there a difference in the content they posted online?

**Laurel Marshall

Tyler Gallau said

at 1:51 pm on May 3, 2012

1. Since you interviewed people who were in ROTC, do you think the training of discipline had any effect on their answers?
2. What was the most challenging aspect of your research and why?
3. How do you think you can better manage your time so that you can get your research done on time?
4.What was your biggest surprise when doing research?

-Tyler

Jose Molina said

at 9:57 pm on May 8, 2012

- Do you think the ROTC students’ mindset influences strongly on being less worried about their privacy settings?
- Was there any big challenge in differentiating your findings from ROTC student to non-ROTC students? If so, what was it?
- How do you compare your view and use online privacy settings compared to the individuals from your research?
- What is one of the big things you would change from your study or something you regret?

--Jose M.

Sofia Cruz said

at 5:07 pm on May 9, 2012

1. What was one of the biggest differences you found between ROTC and non-ROTC responses?
2. Do you think that ROTC students are more aware of what they post on the internet because they are in the ROTC? Why?
3. Do you feel that ROTC is similar in the way that people who work keeping their online privacy settings away from the boss/manager in the work force?
4. Overall, would you say that ROTC students are way more aware of what they post online because they are in the ROTC?
-Sofia

Tania Berlinski said

at 6:37 pm on May 9, 2012

1. Why did you choose to compare ROTC students and non-ROTC students?
2. Did gender make a difference concerning the level of knowledge about privacy settings your participants had?
3. Why do you think ROTC students with privacy training check their privacy settings less often than non-ROTC students?
4. Why do you think students expect the government or companies to protect our privacy rights?

Mark Bateman said

at 8:10 pm on May 9, 2012

1. What made you choose this topic?
2. How would you change your survey process?
3. What makes ROTC students more careful about their online privacy?
4. Was interviewing ROTC students and non ROTC students a good way to compare and contrast?

Kim Calisesi said

at 9:25 pm on May 9, 2012

1. Why did you decide not to ask demographic questions in your surveys?
2. What did you ask during your interview?
3. Did you find new information from your interviews compared to your surveys?
4. Do you think that ROTC students are more professional due to the values that were instilled in them?

-Kim

Chaz Guerrero said

at 11:43 pm on May 9, 2012

1) What made you choose this topic?
2) How come you did use demography in your surveys?
3) What would you change or do different next time?
4) Do you think there are different thoughts from regular civilians than ROTC?
-Chaz

Michael Wilkerson said

at 12:08 am on May 10, 2012

1. What kind of questions did you ask in your interviews?
2. Have you ever heard of the Sea Cadets?
3. How do you see professionalism in ROTC students compared to regular students?
4. What surprised you the most from this project?

Chris Valdez said

at 1:32 am on May 10, 2012

1. Why were you interested in this topic?
2. Did gender have an effect on the answers?
3. Why do you think the non-ROTC students checked their privacy settings so much more?
4. What was the biggest takeaway from your research?

maxbunag@gmail.com said

at 8:40 am on May 10, 2012

1. With social networking as popular as it is, where is privacy headed in the future?
2. What makes ROTC students more likely to change their settings?
3. What was the most difficult aspect of this research?
4. Why did you leave out questions about demographics?

dannah.sanchez said

at 9:46 am on May 10, 2012

1. Why did you pick this topic?
2. What were the challenges that you faced during your data collection phase?
3. Do ROTC students navigate online defensively compared to non-ROTC?
4. Were there any variables you didn't expect to come up?

Brian Toback said

at 10:57 am on May 10, 2012

1 do you think ROTC students are careful of what they post on the internet?
2 what was the hardest part in the assignment?
3 why did you choose this topic?
4 what did you ask during the interviews?

Chloe Chandler said

at 11:00 am on May 10, 2012

1. Do ROTC students have more of an obligation to be private versus non-ROTC students? why?
2. How would you handle the data collection process differently?
3. What was your biggest issue during the research process?
4. Why did you choose this topic?

matt.collins209@... said

at 11:14 am on May 10, 2012

1) Do you have a Facebook?
2) Do ROTC students only worry about privacy while they are in the program?
3) What makes ROTC students more careful about their privacy?
4) What were your limitations for your interviews?

michael sheng said

at 11:37 am on May 10, 2012

1.why were ROTC students expected to understand their privacy settings?
2. What is the rule with ROTC students exposing inappropriate pictures online?
3. Do ROTC kids get kicked out due to indecent postings over the internet?
4. Why is it that most people dont understand their privacy settings?

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