Online-Privacy: Patterns of Personal Data Protection from Social Risks by the Example of Moscow Youth

Nowadays, with the advent of digital technology, society is increasingly immersed in the online space. This process is accompanied by an increase in the amount of stored and transmitted information, as well as sensitive user data. Data about people is collected every day. As a consequence, the risk of dissemination of private information, the abuse of personal data for selfish purposes is growing. The need to provide more and more personal information leads to increased fears and risks regarding its transfer and protection. One of the popular platforms for transmitting information is social networks. Undoubtedly, social media has many benefits and opportunities for online users, but the use of social media often generates risks. In the context of risks, we have considered the manifestation of social risk as a probabilistic situation for threatening the reputation of an individual user in social networks due to the illegal intrusion into their personal space and gaining access to personal data. This raises an urgent need for users to preserve their privacy, as well as to identify strategies to protect themselves. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the patterns of protection of personal data users in the manifestation of a sense of social risk in behavior in the online environment of young people in Moscow. In order to implement this study, an online survey was conducted in order to obtain the necessary information about how respondents behave in the online space. The sample included 200 people from 18 to 30 years old. Based on the theory of coping strategies and user responses We were able to answer how the patterns of behavior of different user groups are formed and how people overcome the sense of social risk in the context of privacy, as the impossibility of complete control over personal data in the online environment.