How We Define Privacy Literacy: Teaching Experiences & Challenges of Community-Engaged Privacy Educators

This study examines the pedagogical approaches and experiences of community-engaged educators—individuals who teach privacy, online safety, or security to specific communities through community organizations, companies, or local institutions, such as libraries. We draw on interviews with 21 such educators across the United States and find that, unlike some privacy and security advice that may emphasize knowledge retention of common skills and strategies, these educators prioritized teaching for independent decision-making. Our participants conceptualized privacy literacy as a process for taking informed action, and, from their insights, we identified five core competencies of privacy literacy: (1) data fluency, (2) account security, (3) fraud detection, (4) information vetting, and (5) surveillance capitalism. Notably, these competencies integrate privacy, security, and online safety concepts into privacy literacy—reflecting an increasingly integrated threat landscape. Embedded within the communities they serve, these educators shared their deep understanding of their students’ needs, which varied dramatically, and shared ways in which they tailored their programming accordingly. However, educators also shared significant teaching constraints, including limited time, resources, and organizational support. We discuss the implications of our findings for privacy literacy and for supporting community-engaged privacy literacy efforts.