2023 Volume 65 Issue 3 Pages 189-196
Users of social networking services are getting younger, and the handling of young people's personal information is important. The purpose of this study was to clarify how young people perceive personal information. To this end, we conducted a survey of university and junior high school students regarding their perceptions of personally identifiable elements contained in information. It was revealed that they recognized a wider range of personal information than what the law interprets as personal information. The results also indicated that excessive fear of personal information mishandling may cause people to become overly cautious, thereby limiting the possibilities for information dissemination, expression, and creation. There are situations in which individuals voluntarily disclose personal information for reasons such as sports or entertainment activities. Consequently, it is imperative to provide appropriate guidance on the handling of personal information, taking the individual's specific circumstances into account.
