AN ANALYSIS OF STATE UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES STUDENT'S LEVEL OF AWARENESS ON DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS AND DATA PRIVACY IN DAVAO REGION, PHILIPPINES

Students' interactions with online platforms have changed due to the swift progress of digital technology. Students at State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) in the Davao Region are increasingly steering digital settings, yet they frequently don't fully understand their digital footprints and data privacy. This study was to determine how well-informed SUC students were about these significant digital concepts and to explore the influences between their knowledge and sociodemographic characteristics such age, gender, course of study, educational attainment, amount of time spent online, and gadget use. Through Google Forms with a varied sample of students from various colleges and state universities within Davao Region, results showed that the ability of the respondents to create digital footprints and data privacy was highly impacted by age, gender and courses. Conversely, there is a correlation between levels and the amount of time spent online. Further, the students’ awareness of their digital footprint was significantly influenced by their gadget use. Furthermore, the study highlighted that the institution must have a customized digital literacy innovation, emphasising data protection and footprint awareness. Similarly, to successfully advance the accountability to the students or users, the intervention of the institution must consider the gender and course of the students. Added to that, it must also be discussed the risk and appropriate usage of online environments.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0445/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>