Options
Privacy Paradox - Fundamental research on users' tendency to freely provide (health) data despite general worries
Type
fundamental research project
Start Date
01 January 2013
End Date
31 May 2015
Status
ongoing
Keywords
information privacy
privacy paradox
privacy calculus
cognitive heuristics
behavioral economics
data markets
Description
Investigating privacy-related phenomena, prior research has often pointed to discrepancies between users' privacy concerns and disclosing behaviors, denoted as the privacy paradox. That is, users tend to disclose their data as if they didn't care, even if they declare to be highly worried about their privacy.
Investigating privacy-related phenomena, prior research has often pointed to discrepancies between users' privacy concerns and disclosing behaviors, denoted as the privacy paradox. That is, users tend to disclose their data as if they didn't care, even if they declare to be highly worried about their privacy. Empirical evidence on this dichotomy arises from numerous studies reporting small and non-significant correlations between stated privacy concerns and individual disclosing behaviors. In this regard, prior literature has suggested three approaches capable to guide further research on the privacy paradox: First, scholars have highlighted the role of real outcomes as opposed to behavioral intentions, given that most prior research in the field of information privacy relied on the measurement of behavioral intentions only. Second, some scholars proposed a systematic distinction between privacy attitudes, such as privacy concerns, and situation-specific constructs, arguing that situational cues and considerations may override pre-existing tendencies in a concrete data-requesting situation. Third, an increasing stream of literature investigates the role of bounded rationality in the context of information privacy, indicating individuals' capacities to take rational decisions to be limited, e.g. due to erroneous perceptions of control, or low salience of own privacy concerns.
Embracing these propositions, the research projects aims to unfold the dynamics that underlie individuals' tendency to disclose information despite general worries. Given that (1) health-related information has been found to be perceived as highly sensitive and (2) the collection of such data is of increasing concern to both individuals and policymakers, investigating privacy-related decision-making is of special importance to the field of Health IS. Therefore, the project aims to explore the dynamics of privacy-related decisions in the context of health data primarily.
Investigating privacy-related phenomena, prior research has often pointed to discrepancies between users' privacy concerns and disclosing behaviors, denoted as the privacy paradox. That is, users tend to disclose their data as if they didn't care, even if they declare to be highly worried about their privacy. Empirical evidence on this dichotomy arises from numerous studies reporting small and non-significant correlations between stated privacy concerns and individual disclosing behaviors. In this regard, prior literature has suggested three approaches capable to guide further research on the privacy paradox: First, scholars have highlighted the role of real outcomes as opposed to behavioral intentions, given that most prior research in the field of information privacy relied on the measurement of behavioral intentions only. Second, some scholars proposed a systematic distinction between privacy attitudes, such as privacy concerns, and situation-specific constructs, arguing that situational cues and considerations may override pre-existing tendencies in a concrete data-requesting situation. Third, an increasing stream of literature investigates the role of bounded rationality in the context of information privacy, indicating individuals' capacities to take rational decisions to be limited, e.g. due to erroneous perceptions of control, or low salience of own privacy concerns.
Embracing these propositions, the research projects aims to unfold the dynamics that underlie individuals' tendency to disclose information despite general worries. Given that (1) health-related information has been found to be perceived as highly sensitive and (2) the collection of such data is of increasing concern to both individuals and policymakers, investigating privacy-related decision-making is of special importance to the field of Health IS. Therefore, the project aims to explore the dynamics of privacy-related decisions in the context of health data primarily.
Leader contributor(s)
Member contributor(s)
Funder(s)
Topic(s)
information privacy
privacy paradox
privacy calculus
cognitive heuristics
behavioral economics
data markets
Method(s)
experiment
survey
Range
HSG Internal
Range (De)
HSG Intern
Eprints ID
240012
5 results
Now showing
1 - 5 of 5
-
PublicationRethinking Privacy Decisions: Pre-Existing Attitudes, Pre-Existing Emotional States, and a Situational Privacy Calculus(Association for Information Systems, 2015-05-27)As a potential explanation to measured inconsistencies between stated privacy concerns and actual disclosing behavior, denoted as the "privacy paradox", scholars have proposed a systematic distinction between situational privacy considerations and pre-existing, superordinate factors that shape the decisive situation without being directly connected to the situation itself. Deploying an experimental approach, we explored the dynamics of two types of such pre-existing factors, namely (1) pre-existing attitudes (such as general privacy concerns and general institutional trust) and (2) pre-existing emotional states (such as an individual's current mood) in shaping situation-specific risk and benefit considerations (i.e., a situational privacy calculus). Compared to a negative emotional state, individuals in a positive emotional state were found to perceive lowered situation-specific privacy risks, even if the sources of this state were unrelated to the decisive situation at hand. Moreover, results indicated that pre-existing attitudes may be partially or even fully overridden by situational risk and benefit considerations. Adopting a differentiated view on privacy decision-making, these findings imply that the privacy paradox could be driven by a gap between pre-existing cognitive and affective factors on the one side, and situation-specific considerations and decisions on the other. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.Type: conference paper
-
PublicationThinking Styles and Privacy Decisions: Need for Cognition, Faith into Intuition, and the Privacy Calculus(Universität Osnabrück, 2015-03-06)Investigating cognitive processes that underlie privacy-related decisions, prior research has primarily adopted a "privacy calculus" view, indicating privacy-related decisions to constitute rational anticipations of risks and benefits connected to data disclosure. Referring to psychological limitations and heuristic thinking, however, recent research has discussed notions of bounded rationality in this context. Adopting this view, the current research argues that privacy decisions are guided by thinking styles, i.e. individual preferences to decide in an either rational or intuitive way. Results of a survey indicated that individuals high in rational thinking, as reflected by a high need for cognition, anticipated and weighed risk and benefits more thoroughly. In contrast, individuals relying on experiential thinking (as reflected by a high faith into intuition) overleaped rational considerations and relied on their hunches rather than a privacy calculus when assessing intentions to disclose information. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.Type: conference paper
-
PublicationRe-Setting the Stage for Privacy : A Multi-Layered Privacy Interaction Framework and Its Application(Stämpfli, 2014)
;Aeschlimann, Lea Sophie ;Harasgama, Rehana ;Tamò, AureliaThis book chapter develops a mulit-layered privacy interaction framework to account for the social embeddedness of online privacy. Drawing on Urie Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, we analyze informational privacy on the Internet on four layers: the micro-system, the exo-system, the meso-system and the macro-system. The micro-system encompasses the individual and its psychological decisions; the exo-system relates to Internet companies and organizations; the meso-system describes cultural and temporal aspects; and the macro-system deals with legal and regulatory questions. Privacy on each layer is first analyzed independently and then as a series of interactions between the different layers. Each interaction is illustrated with a current example. The chapter concludes with a range of theoretical and practical implications. It is one of the first attempts to conceptualize online privacy as a multi-level and multi-dimensional phenomenon.Type: book sectionVolume: 1Issue: 9 -
PublicationPrivacy Paradox Revised: Pre-Existing Attitudes, Psychological Ownership, and Actual DisclosurePrior research has pointed to discrepancies between users' privacy concerns and disclosure behaviors, denoted as the privacy paradox, and repeatedly highlighted the importance to find explanations for this dichotomy. In this regard, three approaches have been proposed by prior literature: (1) use of actual disclosure behavior rather than behavioral intentions, (2) systematic distinction between pre-existing attitudes and situation-specific privacy considerations, and (3) limited and irrational cognitive processes during decision-making. The current research proposes an experiment capable to test these three assumptions simultaneously. More precisely, the authors aim to explore the contextual nature of privacy-related decisions by systematically manipulating (1) individuals' psychological ownership with regard to own private information, and (2) individuals' affective states, while measuring (3) pre-existing attitudes as well as situation-specific risk and benefit perceptions, and (4) intentions as well as actual disclosure. Thus, the proposed study strives to uniquely add to the understanding of the privacy paradox.Type: conference paper
-
PublicationRethinking the Privacy Calculus: On the Role of Dispositional Factors and Affect(AIS Association for Information Systems, 2013-12-15)Type: forthcoming