What kinds of personal data do primary school pupils share with whom? Children's view of personal data and its implications for teaching about privacy

Safeguarding personal digital data is crucial and requires appropriate training. However, privacy remains a novel topic, leaving teachers with limited guidance. This study investigates how elementary school students perceive personal data and assesses pre-service teachers’ accuracy in predicting children’s responses. Employing Nissenbaum’s contextual integrity framework, the outcomes of this research offer a nuanced perspective on privacy, considering different recipients and data types. The study surveyed 94 Grade 3 and Grade 5 students, asking them to indicate with which recipients (no one, parents, best friends, class, all other people) they would share specific information. In addition, 75 pre-service teachers were asked to indicate what they expected Grade 5 children would share with whom. The findings show: 1. what information Grade 3 and Grade 5 students consider to be most private, 2. which recipients they trust the most, 3. varying sharing practices between Grade 3 and 5, and 4. a tendency for pre-service teachers to underestimate children’s privacy sharing behavior. In the discussion section we propose five recommendations for enhancing digital privacy education.