Gwen Petro

I have worked on a variety of projects at the intersection of online privacy and health information. For my master’s thesis, I conducted an experiment demonstrating how receiving personalized online advertising related to health and fitness could impact one’s self-image and online privacy perceptions. I recently published another study examining how mental health professionals protect their clients’ privacy in telehealth settings. In a book chapter I co-authored on group privacy, we consider the privacy risks posed by identifying vulnerable groups online (e.g., those with certain health conditions) and the collective nature of online privacy management. I have also worked on projects studying digital inequities, which disproportionately affect members of traditionally marginalized groups. I have conducted research examining the impact of disparate access to digital technology on a variety of quality-of-life-related outcomes (e.g., college students’ GPAs, stress, and coping ability). My research has begun to focus on privacy issues surrounding reproductive health information. I recently conducted interviews to understand how young women navigate finding abortion information online and their beliefs about privacy risks and privacy protection strategies. For my dissertation, I am designing an online privacy literacy intervention and testing whether it motivates people to protect their reproductive health information.