The Importance of Privacy Literacy in Bridging the Digital Divide with an Emphasis on the Role of Libraries

The aim of this paper is to present the role of privacy literacy as a relatively new concept in bridging the digital divide, to link the bridging of the digital divide with the role of libraries in achieving a higher level of critical information literacy, and to place digital inclusion and privacy literacy in a broader theoretical framework. For this purpose, the paper researches the basic concepts of social exclusion and social inclusion, digital divide and digital inclusion. Furthermore, the role of critical information literacy in the information society and the so-called platform society is taken into consideration; and the role of libraries in privacy literacy is indicated, with the aim of reducing the digital divide and increasing digital inclusion. The digital divide is one of the biggest obstacles to the knowledge society, and exclusion from the information society is a global problem. The paper explains that libraries are suitable places to combat social isolation and that they play an important role in strengthening social cohesion. It has also been shown that people with lower levels of education, as well as those with lower incomes, are more at risk of digital exclusion, while help in getting out of such a problem can be found in privacy literacy.