Privacy and political online microtargeting during the German Federal Election 2021

In the context of Federal Elections, political parties frequently engage in targeting social media users with tailored content. To facilitate this, personal data must be collected and processed, often without the users’ explicit awareness. Many users view political online microtargeting as an intrusion upon their privacy. In a longitudinal time-based sampling study shortly before, during, and after the German Federal Election in 2021, we surveyed social media users (N = 126) about their perception of political online microtargeting and individual privacy. In particular, we evaluated participants’ perception of being targeted, perceived social media affordances (anonymity, association), availability of privacy mechanisms (control, trust, norms, communication), and their subjective experience of privacy (experienced level of access, privacy perception). Furthermore, we evaluated how these variables influence users’ privacy regulation behaviours (interdependent or egocentric), political self-efficacy, future political information behaviour, and voting behaviour in the light of political online microtargeting. Multilevel analyses revealed that it is difficult for users to detect targeted ads, but that they feel more private and self-efficacious in their political and future political information behaviour if they believe they can rely on privacy mechanisms such as trust and control.