Hong Kong youngsters not minding web privacy, survey finds
City’s youth falling prey to and helping spread falsehoods, and sharing other users’ data without consent
Half of local youngsters have had their online information shared by peers without their consent, according to a survey, sparking concerns about privacy intrusion.
The city’s younger generation are also easily falling prey to falsehoods and rumours circulating in the cyber world, and often share inaccurate information themselves, the study by the Federation of Youth Groups found.
Of 1,855 respondents aged between 11 and 22 at 18 secondary schools, 46 per cent said they had been tagged in pictures or messages on social media without their approval, and more than a quarter admitted doing the same to friends.
Another 21 per cent confessed they had taken screen grabs of other people’s conversations and uploaded them online without asking permission. Nearly 12 per cent had posted personal data, such as phone numbers and addresses, belonging to others.
The survey organiser said the findings showed the lax attitude of young internet users and a lack of integrity and concern for legal consequences in the virtual world. Nearly 30 per cent thought they could do whatever they wanted online while another 13 per cent thought the cyber world was not bound by law.
