Chapter 2. Digital sovereignty: a new perspective focused on data control

Assessing data preferences is challenging, since digital privacy is often perceived as a fundamental societal need or right, rather than a good with an assignable market value. “Digital sovereignty: a new perspective focused on data control” is the second chapter of the Quaderno IRCrES Cybersecurity and data protection in the electricity sector: state-of-the-art of the literature and evaluation methods presents a literature review of studies that aim to evaluate individuals’ digital privacy preferences in order to address the topic of digital sovereignty, which is closely linked to cybersecurity as it encompasses the procedures that make the digital environment more secure. Specifically, this section of the volume seeks to clarify the key concepts and definitions underlying digital sovereignty, while also reviewing the current state of research on the evaluation of personal data. We examine the challenges, such as behavioural and cognitive biases, as well as context-specific factors, that hinder the users’ ability to assess their privacy and risk preferences, leading to a discussion of what the literature has identified as the Privacy Paradox.