A Taste for Privacy

To investigate that question, we asked a series of questions about how comfortable each respondent is with sharing personally identifiable information (PII) data with a number of institutions, broadly understood. Privacy researchers have long argued that people manage a boundary around themselves, granting different kinds of access to different relationships. What if comfort sharing data tracks that social distance — closest at friends, furthest at strangers?

Here's the circle of trust for all our respondents, with social media platforms highlighted. Each arc is one institution; the closer to the center, the more comfortable students are sharing their PII with it. Colors group institutions by relationship type — close personal, professional, civic, commercial, and weak social ties. When notes play slowly, it means the group is comfortable sharing. Faster notes signal more hesitation.

One interesting pattern we found is the relationship between the number of platforms users engage with and their comfort level in sharing PII with social media platforms. In general, we found that single-platform users are a bit less trusting of institutions than average.

Conversely, the more platforms people use, the more comfortable they are sharing PII with those companies. When using four social media platforms, young people tend to trust those companies with their PII more than the police or even their neighbors!

Alright, let's go back to the average view.

In our survey, we first compared how responses varied by demographic groups. For instance, we were interested in the relationship between the medical institution and gender. Here's how Women feel about sharing data with medical professionals.

And here's how Men feel about sharing data with medical professionals. Recall that when circles are closer to the center, it means the given group is more comfortable.

Let's return to the overall average as our anchor.

Now let's look at how different gender groups feel about sharing data with the police. Here's how Men feel about sharing data with police.

And here's how Non-binary individuals feel about sharing data with police.

Back to the overall average. We have one last part of the story to tell.

Let's explore how adverse childhood experiences (ACE scores) relate to trust. Starting with participants who have ACE score of 0.0—no adverse experiences. Notice how relatives are highly trusted for sharing data.

At an ACE score of 1.25, we begin to see subtle shifts in trust patterns.

By an ACE score of 2.25, the changes become more pronounced. The circle of trust is starting to reshape.

At an ACE score of 4.25, trust in relatives has notably declined compared to the baseline.

At the highest ACE scores (5.25+), the circle of trust has significantly shifted. The gap between relatives and other close relationships narrows noticeably.

Ultimately, the visualization shows how far apart institutions sit within a single person's circle of trust — friends near the center, strangers and unfamiliar companies out at the edge. The same student isn't simply “private” or “public.” Their comfort shifts with who is asking. Any discussion of youth privacy must account for context and identity.