Social Media and Privacy Awareness in Egypt

Mohamed Eldeeb Morsi Mohamed Ismail

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Egypt ranked 16th globally when it comes to social media addiction. The growing penetration of smartphones has made access to social media more convenient. In such a scenario, when approximately half of the country's population is using social media it has become vital for academia and corporations to understand the awareness amongst the users regarding their privacy and related concerns. While the right knowledge can let the citizens and regulatory authorities enjoy and leverage the benefits of social media, the lack of knowledge and awareness can either leave them apprehensive or vulnerable. This study aims to understand the differences in social media privacy awareness among users from varying education levels, age groups, gender and living areas. This study uses a pre-defined questionnaire scale and surveyed 130 participants. It was found that there is a statistically significant difference in information sharing, awareness regarding privacy policy terms usage, attitude towards permission requested by the social media sites, privacy disclosure, awareness of surveillance and awareness about privacy violation amongst males and females, amongst different age groups, different level of education and urban and rural social media users. Hence the demographics play a vital role in understanding the level of awareness related to privacy amongst the social media users in Egypt. Moreover, the study concludes by giving some robust recommendations for the general public, government, social media companies and other public and private organizations.

Abstract:

Egypt ranked 16th globally when it comes to social media addiction. The growing penetration of smartphones has made access to social media more convenient. In such a scenario, when approximately half of the country's population is using social media it has become vital for academia and corporations to understand the awareness amongst the users regarding their privacy and related concerns. While the right knowledge can let the citizens and regulatory authorities enjoy and leverage the benefits of social media, the lack of knowledge and awareness can either leave them apprehensive or vulnerable. This study aims to understand the differences in social media privacy awareness among users from varying education levels, age groups, gender and living areas. This study uses a pre-defined questionnaire scale and surveyed 130 participants. It was found that there is a statistically significant difference in information sharing, awareness regarding privacy policy terms usage, attitude towards permission requested by the social media sites, privacy disclosure, awareness of surveillance and awareness about privacy violation amongst males and females, amongst different age groups, different level of education and urban and rural social media users. Hence the demographics play a vital role in understanding the level of awareness related to privacy amongst the social media users in Egypt. Moreover, the study concludes by giving some robust recommendations for the general public, government, social media companies and other public and private organizations.

Keywords

privacy surveillance, privacy awareness, GDPR

Keywords

GDPR, privacy surveillance, privacy awareness

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 5. 12. 2021

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 31. 1. 2022
• Supervisor: Antonín Pavlíček
• Reader: Martin Potančok

Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze

Master programme / field:
Aplikovaná informatika / Information Systems Management