Investigations into Consumers Preferences Concerning Privacy: An Initial Step towards the Development of Modern and Consistent Privacy Protections around the Globe

Abstract

Online privacy is becoming an increasingly important topic, and an increasingly controversial one. The EU is imposing strict limitations on the use of data obtained from its citizens' online activities [9], while Big Data advocates and online advertisers in the United States are concerned that this may represent interference in their basic business models or even in international trade [13].It is clear that laws and regulations are inconsistent across national borders. They are also inconsistent within nations, depending on the industry classification of companies, or even the designation given to specific technologies. ISPs are prohibited from reading subscribers' email; other information services companies can do so legally. Data stored electronically is offered protection that is denied to data stored in the cloud.This paper proposes that regulatory confusion be addressed starting with some basic principles of uniformity. More importantly, it suggests that regulation be driven by what consumers actually want, and provides some preliminary research aimed at determining what consumers want from privacy regulation around the world.

Unveiling consumers' privacy paradox behaviour in an economic exchange

“…Financial or healthcare services – which can use IT to become more personalised, efficient, and cost competitive – are contained due to information privacy concerns and regulations like HIPAA, FCRA, and others (Motiwalla and Li, 2013; Turhan and Vayvay, 2012). These regulations have created some confusion with no clear guidelines on consumer risks, inconsistent practices across media and platforms, different regulatory treatment across industries, like telecommunications and IT, and above all regulations that are not customer-driven (Clemons et al, 2014). This environment has created a need to understand consumer privacy behaviour in an economic setting, where personal information is treated like a commodity.…”

“…Example violations of this right to be left alone are organisation collecting information without permission or consent through website cookies, spam advertising, pop-ups, and sponsored sites. These unwanted intrusions or interruptions are most prevalent concern amongst consumers (Clemons et al, 2014) and are the main focus of our study.…”

“…Many consumers meanwhile are unaware about the power of business intelligence and data analytics. They have been conditioned to accept privacy abuses and advertisements as cost of free internet services and personalisation does not cost consumers, it only allow companies to provide better service (Clemons et al, 2014). These myths and a general lack of awareness on privacy violations by consumers (Baek, 2014) have created a decision making phenomenon known as the privacy paradox , which basically states that consumers reporting high privacy concerns on surveys were nevertheless eagerly submitting their personal information for benefits in commercial transactions or other online or social situations (Smith et al, 2011).…”

Big Data in Organizations and the Role of Human Resource Management

“…O'Hara & Shadbolt 2008, Solove 2011, Tene & Polonetsky 2012, and there will be several transformations concerning that topic (Rubinstein 2013); anonymization is a concept from the past, and with big data it becomes relatively easy to de-anonymize anonymized data sets. Clemons et al (2014) call this the myth of anonymization. Data protection is essential for big data within organizations, however, many leaks (e.g.…”

“…Big data can support employees in individualized ways, but if the employees are anonymized this benefit dissipates. In fact, being anonymous is a myth in these times of big data (Clemons et al 2014); with enough data it is possible to de-anonymize any information (Tene & Polonetsky 2012, Froomkin 2015. Although an HR department does not de-anonymize these data sets, the potential for malpractice is clear.…”