But their responses also suggest that young people are feeling defensive of their privacy wherever it is actually threatened, and looking for ways to protect it. As this generation grows older and more politically savvy, its members may begin looking to laws, in addition to privacy software, to keep their private affairs private. They will enter a political arena where privacy is likely already to be a charged issue. Privacy is how we maintain a fragile balance between the values of the majority and the freedom of individuals. When the walls of privacy move, individual freedom can shrink.
Personal decisions become matters also for neighbors, employers or the police.
Changes in technology are rapidly moving the walls of privacy, and we have far to go in deciding what, in an uncertain new world, we will protect. Margin of error is higher when comparing subgroups. It takes smarts and hard work today to keep personal information private. Don't carry your Social Security card. Keep birth certificates in a safe place.