PDPL metric: validating a scale to measure personal data privacy literacy among university students

Personal data privacy literacy (PDPL) refers to a collection of digital literacy skills related to an individual’s ability to understand, evaluate, and manage the collection, use, and protection of personal data in online and digital environments. This study introduces and validates a new psychometric scale (PDPL Metric) designed to measure data privacy literacy among university students, focusing on six key privacy constructs: perceived risk of data misuse, expectations of informed consent, general privacy concern, privacy management awareness, privacy-utility trade-off acceptance, and perceived importance of data security. A 24-item questionnaire was developed and administered to students at U.S.-based research universities. Principal components analysis confirmed the unidimensionality and internal consistency of each construct, and a second-order analysis supported the integration of all six into a unified PDPL construct. Confirmatory factor analysis further verified the robustness of the measurement model and the overall construct validity. No differences in PDPL were found based on academic level and gender, although a difference was found based on domestic/international status. The findings of this study offer a validated framework for assessing PDPL within the higher education context and support the integration of the core constructs into higher education programs, policies, and digital literacy initiatives on university campuses.