Only 16 per cent of Maltese social media users read the terms and conditions set by service providers, a study found.
The figures, which put Malta well below the EU average (24 per cent), form part of a survey conducted by the University of Malta in collaboration with some 20 other European institutions.
The fine print listing the terms and conditions contain the detailed regulations by which all users must abide.
These include payment terms, privacy rules and disclaimers, which are often overlooked.
Joseph Cannataci, senior lecturer at the University’s Department of Information Policy, said just 11 per cent of those who actually read social media service conditions fully understood them.
He explained that most respondents felt they did not need to understand the “long, technical documents” because they were “all the same, anyway”.
Prof. Cannataci was speaking at a seminar on data protection and online privacy organised by the European Parliament’s Information Office yesterday, where academic staff discussed the findings of the EU-wide study.
“These documents are riddled with technical jargon and that puts the reader off but this has the unintended side-effect of readers feeling that the document is not even meant for them,” he said.
The study collected replies from 8,000 experienced social media users from across the EU.
Noellie Brockdorff, from the Department of Cognitive Science, who formed part of the research team, said respondents’ perception of control over online content was strongly based on their view of security in their own environment.
Facebook has transformed online policing
“When people feel safe and believe in the integrity of the structures of the outside world, they transfer this on to the cyber world.
“This also happens in reverse. Those who doubt the security of, say, their government, also doubt the security of the online world,” Dr Brockdorff explained.
While welcoming the groundbreaking technology as a “huge leap” in combating crime and terrorism, Prof. Cannataci highlighted the risk of abuse with such technology.
“More than 90 per cent of abuse comes from in-house sources. This is something that needs to be realised and combated,” he said.
In a panel discussion, data protection Police Inspector Sandro Camilleri said harassment and non-consensual photo sharing were among the main complaints received by the police in terms of online crimes.
“Facebook has transformed online policing. We are constantly receiving complaints about this service. Most recently we received loads of complaints about racial hate,” he said.
“We get complaints but it is often extremely difficult to access the private user information on siteslike Facebook. We really aren’t equipped to tackle this.”