Unequal experiences, unequal outcomes? Digital
inequalities in experiencing online benefits and privacy
harms, mistrust, and self-inhibiting behaviors

Dublin Core

Title

Unequal experiences, unequal outcomes? Digital
inequalities in experiencing online benefits and privacy
harms, mistrust, and self-inhibiting behaviors

Subject

digital inequality, harmful privacy experiences, self-inhibition behavior, mistrust, Bayesian inference

Description

Digital inequality research shows that certain sociodemographic groups (e.g., older persons) experience fewer benefits from using digital technologies (e.g., not finding useful information). While disadvantage is typically conceptualized as not experiencing benefits, users also experience
online harms (e.g., unauthorized access to personal information), which have been largely ignored. Better understanding of systematic differences in online experiences can contribute to understanding mistrust in online companies and chilling effects (i.e., inhibiting certain digital behaviors). Using Bayesian inference to analyze data of a preregistered survey-based study (N ¼ 1,410), we find confirming and contradicting results
for digital inequalities. While older and less educated persons experience fewer online benefits and women and older persons tend to inhibit
their digital behaviors more, no inequalities regarding harmful privacy experiences were found (older persons even reported fewer harmful experiences). Generally, mistrust and self-inhibition are higher when people experience online harms and lower when they experience online benefits. We discuss these findings in relation to structural disadvantages, intersectionality, and potential solutions.

Creator

Yannic Meier1,� and Nadine Bol2

Source

https://watermark02.silverchair.com/zmaf016.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAA1MwggNPBgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggNAMIIDPAIBADCCAzUGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQM1b5Euq_jPdqGwa1dAgEQgIIDBguadbBXhl3ReutAoTJ_s6Xrb2jLcSNiSDkcP1J1yvGKaGJcWoE2eAeSdzK-KMonPXrFDybxJsQrupdfaDMRUCsRbfPSkt9eOUI3j03v4yhpTnR81oZ5mZktloQNwFjs_9hctjYKP7M6H7k2lrO1XieW6m4vXP1b-WVKOBsaP8YayHPXSnGsQcvALTuNZX4deZXako4bQnzuWYCqzd2Nw5Ym-l1ggOh_VuoSJyV6aVNoesgU7p4joyJydr49fKcq9-T4fWmzZV5IpvOkZHdgnk7OSuN_N6zsXZZjkAdv2WS-FOERL9Yq2WAqZ2Pm0cjdE3ySK6P91u_pWiR6vOInYtWHHoeY4tXzG3rQWl9GOdaWFLiHCMrx4PDUGEVimJ_SlSubj5NEMk3rkFy5UNe5j_o7KQp4iG5kwZOwPgiUHdk8LZU-dFFsRCB_ZWicRRC3h-krEsLv_TpZDb_DyfQI8Qyi1QKdVTMiAmGcIO09ANmA5JdMbm0k4pFKaIH0By0HvRYp7WMX98RO_bc27hYaG9bF8G9y3Yn1GVfrgUOTpZVv8_BwLsYk8ZE10CIGD8095Y4MjaFHHnkWy3UOtr29WeuiY2cHwJCRlY3xcYYneH-pcTShek-n8oatOegGHyiavtZ26LBA_Xw6ggd0GiAPSYLhRQwM2P4Oi_nmwZfLLx5BY91IuAvLwb4x5KAmrI0X6D91UesoWQxvm8Re4hL34a6xqPQaNoX3dOj8-vhRiUhQn3D0f4NSnQIlUPHDuRpdZGzg8gc_824PzjXr0co62_w15iNIldWUnyEX192whlx9usZNAmDmrTSv_DCvZBC8-9-dEIwHFbmN-PULudaOsqv18B2VMJWHXCIej55dqW0zjb5pAE0XIOaOCDT70MMtXXdTkom9hrAt1EyOq9XptDzaH0Fzdv8s8EAgbeJ6s-S8ZxCi5g_d22rZ-kd8Vd4k929VyTWG6hi8k8fnbYW0e1MkPkM3J3QosgQrt5DkkIGXfBywdlZwnHPVqzYKnxNDmXFz97LAxQ

Publisher

OXFORD ACADEMIC

Date

17 JULY 2025

Contributor

FAJAR BAGUS W

Format

PDF

Language

ENGLISH

Type

TEXT

Files

Citation

Yannic Meier1,� and Nadine Bol2, “Unequal experiences, unequal outcomes? Digital
inequalities in experiencing online benefits and privacy
harms, mistrust, and self-inhibiting behaviors,” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed January 11, 2026, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/9815.