An investigation of gender differences in on-line privacy concerns and resultant behaviors

This study examines whether gender differences are apparent in attitudes and behaviors toward advertising and marketing practices involving information gathering and privacy on-line. As part of a larger study, 889 internet users nationwide were surveyed using electronic mail. Results indicated that women and men differed significantly in their attitudes toward several practices, with women generally appearing more concerned about the effect the practice would have on their personal privacy. Additionally, the study found that men were likely to adopt behaviors to protect their privacy when they became concerned; women, however, rarely adopted protective behaviors. Implications for web advertisers are provided.     

Compulsory technology adoption and adaptation in education: A looming student privacy problem

Educational settings worldwide have a significant impact on the early use of digital devices and online media by children. Therefore, schools' educational technology (EdTech) adoption decisions may lead to long-term repercussions for students and society. The authors explore how schools make technology decisions on behalf of their students, focusing on the ways that privacy and data security are considered in technology adoption decisions and use. Adaptation-level theory helps to illustrate the growing dependence on technology in compulsory educational settings, the convenience of adopting digital tools, and the risks to children that result as they use and adapt to technology. Analysis of in-depth interviews and text analysis of public state reports indicate that confusion between information technology and EdTech consequentially leads to a “privacy-security chasm.” Findings highlight privacy-security challenges in K-12 school districts and the growing need to understand student privacy protection as part of children's digital well-being.     

Defaults, Framing and Privacy: Why Opting In-Opting Out1

Differences in opt-in and opt-out responses are an important element of the current public debate concerning on-line privacy and more generally for permission marketing. We explored the issue empirically. Using two on-line experiments we show that the default has a major role in determining revealed preferences for further contact with a Web site. We then explore the origins of these differences showing that both framing and defaults have separate and additive effects in affecting the construction of preferences.     

What blockchain can and can’t do: Applications to marketing and privacy

Marketing has enjoyed unparalleled transformation in terms of its effectiveness and ability to delivery measurable return on investment due to the digital revolution. The spread of blockchain technology has led to suggestions that it may have significant marketing applications. Though blockchain is indeed an amazing technology with significant applications, this paper argues that its usefulness in many traditional marketing applications may be limited. The reasons why throw important light on the interactions between blockchain technologies, data and privacy. Blockchain, by its nature, may lead to substantial privacy harms when used indiscriminately for marketing purposes.¹     

Internet and consumer privacy: Considering the FTC’s “do not track” proposal

The digital economy relies on the collection of personal data on an ever-increasing scale. Regulations have to be found which can provide an optimal balance between consumers’ interest in privacy and the benefits from innovations that rely on the largely invisible collection, retention and sharing of consumer data. The following article discusses current US reform proposals and their relevance for the ongoing debate in Europe.     

Social media marketing: Who is watching the watchers?

The ready access to and availability of social media has opened up a wealth of data that marketers are leveraging for strategic insight and digital marketing. Yet there is a lack of professional norms regarding the use of social media in marketing and a gap in understanding consumers’ comfort with marketers’ use of their social media data. This study analyzes a census-balanced sample of online adults (n = 751) to identify consumers’ perceptions of using social media data for marketing purposes. The research finds that consumers’ perceived risks and benefits of using social media have a relationship with their comfort with marketers using their publicly available social media data. The research extends the applicability of communication privacy management theory to social media and introduces marketing comfort—a new construct of high importance for future marketing research. Marketing comfort refers to an individual's comfort with the use of information posted publicly on social media for targeted advertising, customer relations, and opinion mining. In the context of the construct development, we find that targeted advertising is the strongest contributing component to marketing comfort, relative to the other two dimensions: opinion mining and customer relations. By understanding what drives consumer comfort with this emerging marketing practice, the research proposes strategies for marketers that can support and mitigate consumers’ concerns so that consumers can maintain trust in marketers’ digital practices.     

Do ethics drive value co-creation on digital sharing economy platforms?

PurposeSharing economy is surging and so are the consumers’ ethical concerns regarding such platforms. The current study examines the antecedents of consumers’ intention to co-create value that include consumers’ ethical perceptions constructs (i.e. privacy, security, fulfillment/reliability, shared value, service recover, and non-deception) and relationship quality constructs (trust, satisfaction, commitment), focusing on the digital sharing economy platforms.MethodologySurvey method was applied to gather data from n=348 consumers at digital sharing economy platforms. Structural equation modelling technique through Amos version 24. was employed in order to further analyze the data.FindingsResults reveal that consumers’ ethical perceptions as a second order construct comprising of privacy, security, fulfillment/reliability, service recovery, and shared value does not influence consumers’ intention to co-create value. However, relationship quality as a second order construct including commitment trust and satisfaction influences consumers’ intention to co-create value. Furthermore, relationship quality serves as strong full mediator between consumers’ ethical perceptions and their intention to co-create value.OriginalityThe studies on drawing relationships between value co-creation and relationship quality constructs have been popular yet to the authors’ surprise; seldom any studies have been conducted in examining the role of ethical perceptions in the settings of digital sharing economy platforms. Therefore, the current study closes this gap.     

数字经济对全球贸易治理的挑战及制度回应

数字经济的产生对全球贸易治理带来了严峻的挑战。其货物与服务贸易混同的贸易属性以及在线交易形式使其在纳入多边贸易治理体系的货物与服务贸易部门时存在特殊困难。既有的多边贸易协定亦欠缺对数字贸易壁垒和数据风险进行有效规制的规定。这促使数字贸易大国在区域贸易协定的谈判中,针对数字贸易的数字特征做出了若干制度回应:在既有的货物贸易和服务贸易分类框架下,针对数字内容构建可兼容其货物和服务贸易属性的数字产品开放规则;应对数字贸易中的数据流通壁垒制定数据流通限制的一般禁止以及禁止计算设施本地化和源代码强制披露的条款;并就数字贸易对国家安全和消费者隐私权和安宁权的损害,授予政府管控数据风险的政策空间。     

The Future of Privacy: A Consumer‐Oriented Approach to Managing Personal Data Online

Beginning with Facebook's recent controversial “tweaks” to its privacy policy and its promise to support users against employers and others who attempt to compel users to divulge passwords, we critically review European Union (EU) and US digital privacy initiatives. Whereas the EU proposal relies on legislative regulation, the United States proposes industry self‐regulation partially enforceable by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). We conclude that not only do the sharply differing EU and US approaches present significant problems of global digital interoperability, but neither proposal promises to result in practical and feasible consumer protection, at least not in the near term. Moreover, the EU proposal poses serious threats to the profitability of digital commerce. As an alternative, we propose a “third approach,” empowering the individual digital consumer/user through a personal online strategy we call “wide‐open privacy,” which provides security without sacrificing the transformative economic, cultural, and personal benefits of the Internet. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Addressing privacy predicaments in the digital marketplace: A power‐relations perspective

The utilization and governance of the internet and adjacent disruptive technologies have created numerous challenges to ensuring consumer online privacy. This study employs the power–responsibility equilibrium theory to explore emerging online privacy issues in the data‐driven marketplace. This exploratory study, based on semi‐structured interviews, explains why online shopping consumers are increasingly worried about their privacy and why they behave in a manner that could be detrimental to the consumer–vendor relationship. The findings suggest that deficiencies of corporate privacy responsibility and regulatory protection have deprived consumers of privacy empowerment. These deficiencies have also accentuated perceived privacy contract violations to trigger privacy concerns and subsequent defensive responses. We identify enhancement of consumer privacy empowerment and assuagement of privacy contract violations as two separate mechanisms of addressing online privacy issues. We also highlight the importance of addressing power and responsibility dynamics for maintaining a healthy information‐exchange environment.     

网上购物格式条款的问题与探讨

网络环境的数字化、无纸化、技术性和高效率等特征,使网上购物和传统现实购物不尽相同,所以格式条款理论在网上购物应用过程中必然面临。在网上购物的虚拟环境下,如何订立有效的购物格式条款等许多新问题的挑战。为此有必要系统剖析这些问题,并在采用比较法的论证过程中,逐步提出建立信息披露制度、撤销权制度、异常条款制度和电子错误的责任承担等解决问题的对策。     

Consumers’ privacy calculus: The PRICAL index development and validation

Although collecting personal information about consumers is crucial for firms and marketers, understanding of when and why consumers accept or reject information collection remains limited. The authors conceptualize a privacy calculus that represents a consumer’s trade–off of the valence and uncertainty of the consequences of the collection, storage, and use of personal information. For example, usage-based car insurance requires drivers to share data on their driving behavior in exchange for a discount (certain benefit) but at the risk of third parties intercepting location data for malicious use (uncertain disadvantage). Building on this conceptualization, the authors develop the privacy calculus (PRICAL) index. They empirically confirm the validity of the items (Study 1) and the index as a whole (Study 2). The PRICAL index is generally applicable and improves the explanation of behavioral intentions (Study 2) and actual behavior (Study 3), compared with currently used constructs (e.g., privacy concern, trust). Overall, the PRICAL index allows managers to understand consumers’ acceptance of information collection regarding financial, performance, psychological, security, social, and time-related consequences, which the authors demonstrate using the top five most valuable digital brands (Study 4).     

Digitalisierung im Gesundheitswesen — zwischen Datenschutz und moderner Medizinversorgung

The digital transformation of the healthcare branch is important and unstoppable. The enormous possibility of digitalisation to redesign and enhance processes has been shown in other branches. Digital technologies offer the similarly large potential to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare services. However, in terms of digitalisation, the German health system lags behind other European countries. But given a lack of available evidence, the effects of the digitalisation of the healthcare system cannot be reliably evaluated. Digital access to patient data necessitates constructive error cultures in organisations in order to limit defensive medicine. And digital access to health information necessitates individual competence in searching and using this information for participatory decision-making. As with all technological progress, information security is very important in order to gain citizens’ confidence in a digital healthcare system. Thus, it is necessary to simultaneously pursue both enhanced privacy standards and state-of-the-art medical technology.     

Cybersecurity: Risk management framework and investment cost analysis

As organizations accelerate digital transformation with mobile devices, cloud services, social media, and Internet of Things services, cybersecurity has become a key priority in enterprise risk management. While improving cybersecurity leads to higher levels of customer trust and increased revenue opportunities, rapidly evolving data protection and privacy regulations have complicated cybersecurity management. Against the backdrop of rapidly rising cyberbreaches and the emergence of novel cybersecurity technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, this article introduces a cyber risk management framework, discusses a cyber risk assessment process, and illustrates a continuous improvement of cybersecurity performance and cyberinvestment cost analysis with a real-world cybersecurity example.     

Will artificial intelligence replace human customer service? The impact of communication quality and privacy risks on adoption intention

In the digital environment, chatbots as customer service agents assist consumers in decision making. Based on the computers-are-social-actors paradigm, this study examines the perceived differences in communication quality and privacy risks between different service agents and their impact on consumers' adoption intention, and investigates whether these perceived differences might depend on differences in the user's human interaction need. A series of five scenario-based experiments were carried out to collect data and test hypotheses. It was discovered that: different types of service agents directly affect consumers' adoption intention; perceived communication quality and privacy risk mediate the effect of service agent type on adoption intention; the effects of service agent type on perceived accuracy, communicative competence, and privacy risk are moderated by the need for human interaction. The findings of this study provide important insights into the rational use of human−computer interacation in e-commerce.     

The cross-Atlantic tussle over financial data and privacy rights

Banking is an international business; both information and capital flow relatively unimpeded across international borders. Banking institutions’ information stores have increased dramatically with the spread of computers, and these institutions protect data inside their firewalls from outside eyes, and from disaster, through establishing multiple secure data repositories. However, access to banks’ databases is increasingly sought by governments and governance institutions, and restrictions are tightening on moving data across borders. Probably the most prominent example of both trends involves European Union–domiciled cross-border banking business. A key legal reason for resulting issues hinges on differing views of privacy rights: the European Union enshrines privacy as a human right, while the United States empowers rights of free speech over privacy. These differing approaches to privacy rights have caused a cross-Atlantic conflict for global banks. Caught between competing, conflicting regulations, banks’ capacity to move information and to comply with governments’ demands for it have become restricted. This restriction is happening as governments seek increased access to banks’ information for purposes of financial information statecraft—the notion that countries can influence other governments’ policies and actions through data.     

Privacy, property rights and efficiency: The economics of privacy as secrecy

There is a long history of governmental efforts to protect personal privacy and strong debates about the merits of such policies. A central element of privacy is the ability to control the dissemination of personally identifiable data to private parties. Posner, Stigler, and others have argued that privacy comes at the expense of allocative efficiency. Others have argued that privacy issues are readily resolved by proper allocation of property rights to control information. Our principal findings challenge both views. We find: (a) privacy can be efficient even when there is no “taste” for privacy per se, and (b) to be effective, a privacy policy may need to ban information transmission or use rather than simply assign individuals control rights to their personally identifiable data.

Online Privacy Policies and Diffusion Theory Perspectives

ABSTRACT

The use of the Internet and related technologies in data sharing and new product development, which essentially serves as a foundation for the management of data flows for strategic IT, are rapidly expanding. The innovation clusters and frameworks to characterize recent e-commerce sites' privacy policies to ensure confidentiality of personal information have been under increasing academic inquiries. An application of Rogers' (1995) diffusion of innovation or technology concepts as applied to the Internet is used to develop several models of e-commerce related security and privacy concerns. One possible solution discussed is the strategic leveraging of a consortium model, providing for governmental assurances of privacy and security. Unfortunately, the current e-commerce model has no governing body to represent the consumer and e-tailer in terms of privacy and security issues so critical to the continued growth and success of the Internet.     

Big Data aus wettbewerblicher Sicht

Business models in the digital economy often rely on non-monetary payments from users, either in the form of attention for advertising or in the provision of personal data. Gathered data can be used to improve targeted advertising or develop new products and services. Besides these welfare gains, privacy issues may ensue, which can be mitigated by strict transparency provisions and welldefined property rights on data. Big data can furthermore establish barriers to entry if increasing returns to scale are present and thus lead to market concentration. However, the current competition policy framework seems mostly suitable to handle these issues.