The steady reports of privacy invasions online paints a picture of the Internet growing into a more dangerous place. This is supported by reports of the potential scale for online harms facilitated by the mass deployment of online technology and the data-intensive web. While Internet users often express concern about privacy, some report taking actions to protect their privacy online. We investigate the methods and technologies that individuals employ to protect their privacy online. We conduct two studies, of N=180 and N=907, to elicit individuals' use of privacy methods online, within the US, the UK and Germany. We find that non-technology methods are among the most used methods in the three countries. We identify distinct groupings of privacy methods usage in a cluster map. The map shows that together with non-technology methods of privacy protection, simple PETs that are integrated in services, form the most used cluster, whereas more advanced PETs form a different, least used cluster. We further investigate user perception and reasoning for mostly using one set of PETs in a third study with N=183 participants. We do not find a difference in perceived competency in protecting privacy online between advanced and simpler PETs users. We compare use perceptions between advanced and simpler PETs and report on user reasoning for not using advanced PETs, as well as support needed for potential use. This paper contributes to privacy research by eliciting use and perception of use across $43$ privacy methods, including $26$ PETs across three countries and provides a map of PETs usage. The cluster map provides a systematic and reliable point of reference for future user-centric investigations across PETs. Overall, this research provides a broad understanding of use and perceptions across a collection of PETs, and can lead to future research for scaling use of PETs.

中文翻译：

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隐私增强技术的使用模式

网络隐私侵犯的持续报道描绘了互联网正在发展成为一个更加危险的地方的图景。在线技术的大规模部署和数据密集型网络促进了在线危害的潜在规模的报告支持了这一点。虽然互联网用户经常表达对隐私的担忧，但有些人报告称正在采取行动保护他们的在线隐私。我们调查个人用来保护其在线隐私的方法和技术。我们进行了两项研究，N=180 和 N=907，以在美国、英国和德国引发个人在线使用隐私方法。我们发现非技术方法是这三个国家中最常用的方法之一。我们在集群地图中识别不同的隐私方法使用分组。该地图显示，与隐私保护的非技术方法一起，集成在服务中的简单 PET 形成了最常用的集群，而更高级的 PET 形成了不同的、最少使用的集群。我们进一步调查了用户在 N=183 参与者的第三项研究中主要使用一组 PET 的感知和推理。我们没有发现高级和简单 PET 用户在保护在线隐私方面的感知能力存在差异。我们比较了高级和简单 PET 之间的使用认知，并报告了用户不使用高级 PET 的推理，以及潜在使用所需的支持。本文通过引出 43 美元隐私方法（包括三个国家的 26 美元 PET）的使用和使用感受，为隐私研究做出贡献，并提供了 PET 使用地图。聚类图为未来跨 PET 以用户为中心的调查提供了系统和可靠的参考点。总的来说，这项研究提供了对一系列 PET 的使用和感知的广泛理解，并可以导致未来研究扩大 PET 的使用。