Insight into the perception of personal data among law students

Abstract

In the period of the fourth industrial revolution, it can be established that the issue of data protection has become more important than ever before. There is no doubt that data, especially personal data represents a significant commercial value. Additionally, it has many impacts for the legal profession. In accordance with the increasing role of data protection, the question arises whether law students have appropriate knowledge of privacy literacy.

Based on the results of empirical research, this study has demanded a response to the question of what their attitudes are towards the importance of their personal data, how it works in practice, when, for example, using various kinds of social network sites, and which data protection guarantees are known by them. The aim of this study is to provide a brief insight, based on the results of in-depth interviews, into the reasons behind the specific privacy literacy gaps, which can be ascertained from the findings of the preliminary quantitative research.

Anticipating, it should be emphasised, that law students are not fully aware of how much personal data they may provide about themselves on social network sites. Moreover, identifying personal data through practical examples causes difficulties for law students, such as cookie ID or data concerning health. Consequently, the privacy literacy of law students needs to be improved.