Young Saudis’ Evaluations and Perceptions of Privacy in Digital Communities: The Case of WhatsApp and Telegram

Abstract

Digital communities have gained increasing popularity in the past decade. However, they have put users at security risks, especially when they neglect to pay attention to the privacy statement and privacy settings. Therefore, digital community platforms must provide clear privacy statements and usable privacy settings. This research aims to evaluate the usability of privacy on WhatsApp and Telegram from the perspective of young Saudis. A total of 51 young Saudis participated in remote usability testing, followed by questionnaires and interviews. The results showed some privacy concerns in the two apps. Specifically, there are differences in the youths’ evaluation of the perceived privacy of the participants, with females seeing WhatsApp as more secure than the Telegram App. In the end, some recommendations for improving the privacy policy and settings for each app are discussed to ensure the safety and confidentiality of users’ information.