Do men and women differ in privacy? Gendered privacy and (in)equality in the Internet

This paper investigates how personal privacy behavior and confidence differ by gender, focusing on the dimensions of online privacy data protection and release. A hierarchical regression analysis of cross-sectional survey of a national sample (n = 419) revealed that men and women differed on the level of privacy protection; however, gender had no direct effect on the extent to which data release was exercised. Additionally, gender had a positive association with confidence in privacy protection, but not in the dimension of release. Our study suggests that the gender may affect subjective well-being of online privacy and potentially exacerbate the disparity rooted in socialization of gender. Implications of the findings are discussed in light of Internet access, skill and effort required for building and maintaining privacy, and the important role played by gender in indicating the need for gender-sensitive policy awareness.