Elucidating the role of emotion in privacy-concerns: A text-Convolutional Neural Network (Text-CNN)-based tweets analysis of contact tracing apps

Abstract

The extant contact tracing privacy literature is yet to explore the significance of user emotions in privacy-related decision-making such as whether to use such potentially privacy-invasive apps. Using social media analytics, the present study examines users’ privacy-related emotions stimulated by privacy-related aspects of contact tracing apps. A text-Convolutional Neural Network (Text-CNN)-based emotion analysis of tweets on the Indian contact tracing app Aarogya Setu and its Singaporean counterpart TraceTogether conducted in the paper reveals that users expressed negative privacy-related emotions towards these apps indicating high levels of perceived privacy risks and the perceived lack of privacy protection. For TraceTogether, users have also exhibited positive emotions to appreciate the steps taken by the government to protect their privacy. Based on these findings, the government/data controllers can devise strategies to assuage users’ negative emotions and promote positive emotions to encourage the adoption of contact tracing apps. This work incorporates privacy related emotions as key informants about user privacy concerns within the Privacy Calculus Theory. By relying on candid user opinions available through rich but inexpensive user-generated content, the research provides a quick, reliable, and cost-effective approach to study potential app users’ emotions to gain insights into privacy concerns related to any e-governance platform.