Privacy concerns, privacy practices and web site categories

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to disprove the common assumptions of research into privacy concerns from an adversarial paradigm, which does not work in the context of the internet. These assumptions usually claim that internet users who have higher privacy concerns will disclose less information, and that data subjects are always adversarial to data users without considering social contexts.Design/methodology/approachThe study surveyed 400 respondents from China, The Netherlands, Taiwan and the USA. It examined not only their privacy concerns, but also their actual practices, in order to identify any similarities between concerns and practices.FindingsThis study proved that internet users' privacy concerns do not reflect their privacy practices and showed how social contexts (Web category) influence users' privacy practices. Respondents from China, The Netherlands, Taiwan and the USA perceive Website categories in different ways, reflecting the influences of political systems, cultural background and economic development.Research limitations/implicationsThis study maintains that future research on online privacy should take contexts or situations into account. To confirm this, additional research should be undertaken on how social contexts in other countries affect users' privacy concerns and practices. Investigators should also study what makes users more likely to disclose information.Originality/valueThis study suggests that legislation provides the basic protection, while self‐regulation supplies the detailed principles of online privacy. Privacy education teaches users how to create their “zone of privacy” and how to be responsible for their online practices, in order to build an abuse‐free information environment on the internet.

Determinants of Behavioral Responses to Online Privacy: The Effects of Concern, Risk Beliefs, Self-Efficacy, and Communication Sources on Self-Protection Strategies

“…Taken together, the findings highlight how privacy concern plays a critical role in shaping the way people respond to privacy risk. Although several studies have discounted the importance of privacy concern (Fox et al, 2000;Hsu, 2006;Spiekermann et al, 2001), the findings of this study confirm the utility of this construct in explaining and predicting behavioral responses to online privacy.…”

“…The seeming inconsistency between the level of concern and actual behavior (see Dommeyer & Gross, 2003, for further explanation) has led researchers to test other sets of antecedent factors that might influence an individual's self-protective action. These variables include: (a) individual differences such as Internet expertise (Singh & Hill, 2003;Lange & Lampe, 2008) and demographics (Youn, 2005); (b) risk perceptions and beliefs such as perceived online security, privacy belief, and trust belief (Li et al, 2008;Liu et al, 2004); and (c) contextual or technical factors such as the amount of information control offered (Castaneda & Montoro, 2007;Hsu, 2006) and the familiarity with the website concerned (Earp & Baumer, 2003).…”

Privacy in the Digital Age: A Review of Information Privacy Research in Information Systems

“…Individual information privacy practices include using caution when divulging information, using privacy protection software (McGinity 2000), falsifying personal information, employing passive restraints such as filtering or deleting unwanted e-mail, and utilizing identity modification (i.e., creating new e-mail accounts when one is being spammed or using a gender neutral ID during chat) . Factors affecting privacy practices include the types of websites visited and country of origin (Hsu 2006). Some research suggests that individuals are not always aware of the proper practices they should employ (Klasnja et al 2009).…”

“…Some studies do look at companies from various countries in addition to the United States, but they rarely make any inferences about international comparisons (Henderson and Snyder 1999;). This is especially troubling considering that websites for companies based outside the United States are much less likely to have a privacy policy , and that the types of websites visited and the country of origin of respondents affect privacy practices (Hsu 2006). What is interesting is that most of the research on information privacy in general does not take into account the nationality of the respondent, assuming that the findings are somewhat generalizable.…”

Comparing the Satisfaction with the Banks E-payment Services between Degree Holder and Non-Degree Holder Customers in Penang-Malaysia

“…According to prior studies, customers may give up online shopping when they should give their personal information because of privacy concerns. Privacy concern greatly depends on some individual differences, for instance education, and culture [7] & [19].…”