The Privacy of Information and its Relationship with the Trust of Services in Social Networks on Smartphones in University Students

The study's objective was to establish the relationship between users' concern for the privacy of their information, trust in the information suggested by Social Networking Services (SNS), and the use of smartphones to collect information. The methodology was quantitative and non-experimental, based on a sample of 111 university students between the ages of 18 and 27. The model variables were simplified and validated through exploratory and Confirmatory Factor analyses. The correlation matrix revealed a strong relationship between privacy concerns and awareness of private information collection on SNS. A moderate correlation was also found between privacy concerns and the perceived value of SNS on smartphones. A modest but positive relationship existed between trust in SNS information and the conscious collection of private information. Despite privacy concerns, users continue to rely on SNSs to collect information, evidencing awareness of the secondary use of their data.