Privacy as a secondary goal problem: an experiment examining control

Abstract

Privacy is a well-documented issue for research with end-users routinely disclosing large amounts of sensitive information about themselves. The privacy paradox, for example, suggests that users are concerned about their online privacy yet behave in opposition to such stated concern. One potential reason for this paradoxical behaviour is that privacy suffers from a secondary goal problem; that is, it is often not considered in conjunction with the primary motivation for using the system. Given that the User Interface (UI) provides the stimulus for interaction this paper proposes that it is ideally placed to remind users of their privacy and motivate them to consider their behaviour with more scrutiny. An experiment is implemented asking participants to sign-up to a social network by answering a series of questions to build their profiles. A treatment is designed based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour which posits that an individual's behaviour is influenced by their perception of how easy a particular action is to inform; hence, UI elements are designed aimed at aiding users in identifying sensitive information and motivating them to consider their privacy. Specifically, participants are given the opportunity to review their submitted information and make amendments; a privacy score is dynamically altered to make the goal of privacy protection more salient. Results from the treatment group are compared to a control. Findings suggest that participants within the treatment group disclosed less than those in the control with statistically significant results and there is evidence that user behaviour is influenced by a privacy goal oriented UI.

Privacy nudges for disclosure of personal information: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis

“…There is a considerable interest in the effects of different design features on individuals' willingness to disclose personal information. A number of papers have empirically demonstrated that certain design features, such as variety of customization options [34], high immediacy levels [35], perception of information control [34,36], exposure to calls of action [37], videos including female narrators combined with vibrant colors and light musical tones [38], a dynamic privacy score [39], norm-shaping design patterns [40], as well as contextual cues amplifying or downplaying privacy concerns [41], can increase the disclosure of personal information. Also, studies have shown that persuasive messages that are more positively framed or include higher argument strength [42] as well as motivational messages can increase the disclosure of personal sensitive information [43]; while initially participants reacted Compensation of different types, trust (excerpt) Participants did not claim to be more willing to provide information in the presence of incentives, but in fact, as indicated by their behavior, were more inclined to do so.…”

Privacy concerns and disclosure of biometric and behavioral data for travel

“…Privacy awareness can be cultivated and enhanced through own personal experiences, exposure to media coverage on topics concerning privacy and data security issues (Benamati, Ozdemir, & Smith, 2017;Xu, Dinev, Smith, & Hart, 2008), talks, privacy campaigns, tutorials, and privacy policies of providers (Pötzsch, 2009). Privacy awareness can be supported by technical tools and mechanisms, such as digital nudging, reminding users to be conscious and mindful of their privacy when interacting with online providers (Gluck et al, 2016;Hughes-roberts, 2015). An example of such tools is Privacy Bird, an application that evaluates the matching between one's privacy stated preferences and the website's privacy policy (Pötzsch, 2009).…”

“Everything under control?”: Privacy control salience influences both critical processing and perceived persuasiveness of targeted advertising among adolescents

“…This result countered the general view that increasing privacy control is harmful to advertising outcomes (Goldfarb & Tucker, 2011). In addition to being beneficial to advertising responses, the increase of privacy control might also lead to consumers paying more attention to their online privacy as they feel 'more in control' of it, which results in critical reflection and making more well-thought-out decisions with respect to privacy-related matters on SNSs (e.g., Hughes-Roberts, 2015a, 2015bWang, Xu, & Grossklags, 2011;Wang, Zhang, Liu, & Jin, 2015).…”