INFORMATION ABOUT THE THESIS
1. Student's full name: TRAN CAM NHUNG 2. Gender: Female
3. Date of birth: July 27, 2002 4. Place of birth: Ninh Binh
5. Decision to recognize students No. 7353/QD/XHNV dated December 31, 2024, by the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
6. Changes during the training process: In case of trainee renewal: None
7. Thesis Title: Privacy in the Digital Society: Perceptions and Behaviors of Young Citizens in Vietnam
8. Major: Political Science (Research-Oriented) Code: 8310201
9. Scientific supervisor:
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Do Huong Lan, University of Finance and Marketing
Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, Regional Political Academy 1
10. Summary of the thesis results:
Research results show that young citizens in Hanoi currently have high levels of risk awareness, social norms, digital literacy, and privacy protection behavior, while trust in cyberspace is only at an average level. This self-protective behavior is highly homogeneous, with no significant differences based on gender, place of residence, education, or internet usage time, although men have better digital literacy and those online for more than 8 hours/day have higher risk awareness. Structural model analysis indicates that privacy protection behavior is most strongly influenced by social norms, followed by digital literacy and risk awareness. Notably, trust has absolutely no impact on their behavior, demonstrating that today's youth are proactive, pragmatic, and believe in their own ability to protect themselves rather than passively relying on online platforms or institutions.
11. Practical applications:
The research findings serve as a crucial scientific basis for three main groups of stakeholders. For government agencies, the study provides a foundation for improving the legal framework, promoting data autonomy for citizens, and requiring digital platforms to adopt the principle of "privacy-focused design." For educational institutions and youth organizations, instead of merely warning about risks, they need to update their digital skills education effectively and leverage the power of social norms to transform data security into a positive cultural trend within the youth community. Finally, for technology companies, the results offer solutions to optimize interface design by transparently disclosing policies and applying notifications about group behavior to guide and encourage users to protect their personal information.
12. Future research directions:
To further clarify the factors influencing the perceptions and behaviors of young citizens regarding privacy protection in the digital society, future research could consider the following directions:
(1) Expand the survey scope beyond Hanoi and apply a probabilistic sampling method with a larger sample size to improve reliability, minimize errors and allow generalization of results to the entire population in Vietnam.
(2) Add new exogenous factors to the research model to more comprehensively explain the 30.3% of the variation in privacy protection behavior that the current factors do not include.
(3) Applying a time-series research design instead of cross-sectional data at a single point in time, thereby accurately assessing the changes in the awareness and behavior of digital citizens before and after new legal policies officially come into effect and are implemented.
Tran Cam Nhung (2026). Privacy Rights in the Digital Society: Challenges and Policy Recommendations for Vietnam. InProceedings of the International Scientific Conference: Policy on Digital Society Development and Governance: Theory and International Practice(p. 1174). Hanoi: Labor Publishing House.
INFORMATION ON MASTER'S THESIS
1. Full name: TRAN CAM NHUNG 2. Sex: Female
3. Date of birth: July 27, 2002 4. Place of birth: Ninh Binh
5. Admission decision number 7353/ QD/ XHNV, Dated: December 31, 2024
6. Changes in academic process: None
7. Official thesis title: Privacy in the digital society: Awareness and behaviors of young citizens in Vietnam
8. Major: Political Science (research-oriented) 9. Code: 8310201
10. Supervisors:
Assoc. Prof. Dr. By Huong Lan, University of Finance – Marketing
Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, Academy of Politics Region I
11. Summary of the findings of the thesis:
Research findings indicate that young citizens in Hanoi currently possess high levels of risk perception, social norms, digital literacy, and privacy protection behaviors, while their trust in digital space is only at an average level. This self-protection behavior is highly homogeneous, showing no significant differences based on gender, residence, education, or Internet usage time, although males have better digital literacy and those online for over 8 hours a day exhibit higher risk perception. Structural equation modeling analysis reveals that privacy protection behavior is most strongly governed by social norms (the influence of the surrounding community), followed by digital literacy and risk perception. Notably, the trust factor has absolutely no impact on their behavior, demonstrating that today's youth are proactive and pragmatic, relying on their own self-protection capabilities instead of passively depending on network platforms or online institutions.
12. Practical applicability, if any:
The research findings serve as a crucial scientific foundation for three main stakeholder groups. For state management agencies, the study provides a basis to refine the legal framework, promote citizens' rights to data self-determination, and mandate digital platforms to adopt the "privacy by design" principle. For educational institutions and youth organizations, rather than merely warning about risks, it is necessary to update practical digital education skills and leverage the power of social norms to transform data security into a positive cultural trend from within the youth community. Finally, for technology enterprises, the results offer solutions to optimize interface design by enhancing policy transparency and utilizing notifications about majority behaviors to guide and encourage users' personal information protection behaviors.
13. Further research directions, if any:
To further elucidate the factors affecting the awareness and privacy protection behaviors of young citizens in the digital society, future studies could consider the following directions:
(1) Expanding the survey scope beyond Hanoi and applying probability sampling methods with a larger sample size to improve reliability, minimize margin of error, and allow the results to be generalized to the entire youth population in Vietnam.
(2) Incorporating new exogenous factors into the research model to comprehensively explain the remaining 30.3% variance in privacy protection behaviors that the current model does not cover.
(3) Adopting a longitudinal research design rather than relying on cross-sectional data at a single point in time, thereby accurately assessing the shifts in the awareness and behaviors of digital citizens before and after new legal policies officially take effect and come into practice.
14. Thesis-related publications:
Tran, CN (2026). Privacy Rights in the Digital Society: Challenges and Policy Recommendations for Vietnam. PrintProceedings of the International Scientific Conference: Policy on Digital Society Development and Governance: Theory and International Practice(p. 1174). Hanoi: Labor Publishing House.
Newer news
Older news
