ATTENUATING PERCEIVED PRIVACY RISK OF LOCATION-BASED MOBILE SERVICES

The rapid diffusion of mobile devices has spurred the development and use of location-based mobile services (LBMS). LBMS have the potential to add value to businesses through sale of LBMS applications and targeted marketing of products and services. However, studies have shown that individuals’ intention to use LBMS is plagued by the perceived privacy risks of disclosing location and personal information. This study examines how various consumption values may weaken the negative influence of perceived privacy risk on individuals’ intention to use LBMS based on the multi-dimensional concept of privacy risk, theory of consumption values, and privacy calculus. The attenuating effects of conditional, emotional, epistemic, functional, and social values are studied. Results of a survey of 194 potential users of a LBMS show that conditional, functional, and social values have significant attenuating effects. This study contributes to research by looking beyond the separate and direct effects of perceived privacy risk and consumption values to provide new insights on their joint influences. For practitioners such as LBMS providers and businesses’ marketing managers, the findings highlight the type of values that should be emphasized in designing and promoting LBMS

Will Security and Privacy Updates Affect Users’ Privacy Choices of Mobile Apps

There is a growing emphasis among users on safeguarding personal privacy and authorization for applications. To address this, Security and Privacy Updates (SPU) are employed to bolster app security, alleviate user apprehensions regarding security, and encourage users to share data and permissions with greater confidence. Based on the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), we propose that SPU, an IT technology itself, has a dual effect on users’ privacy choices, security threat susceptibility and security response efficacy are the two key mediators to explain this phenomenon, and that this influencing process will be moderated by user’s privacy trade-off. We will investigate this process through a set of online experiments

How the introduction of the COVID-19 tracing apps affects future tracking technology adoption

Purpose Studies on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tracing apps have mostly focused on how to optimize adoption and continuous use, but did not consider potential long-term effects of their introduction. This study aims to analyse whether the characteristics of the recent introduction of tracing apps may negatively impact individuals' attitudes and intentions to adopt future tracking technology. Design/methodology/approach In an online experiment across three countries (Australia, Germany, UK), the authors measured how perceived benefits of COVID-19 tracing apps as well as specific government and campaign-related factors affect privacy concerns, attitude towards future tracking apps and intention to adopt. The authors manipulated the type of provider (governmental vs private) and the type of beneficiaries of the future tracking technology app (the individual alone or also the public) as determinants of adoption. Findings The authors find that privacy concerns towards the COVID-19 tracing apps negatively impact attitude and intention to adopt future tracking apps. Future adoption is more likely if the app is provided by the government, whereas additional benefits to the public do not positively stimulate adoption. Second, the study analyzed different factors, including perceptions on governments and the app introduction, as well as perceived benefits. Originality/value Taking the introduction of COVID-19 apps in different countries as a basis, the authors link both perceived benefits and contextual factors to privacy concerns, attitudes towards and intention to adopt the related technology in the future. The authors hereby clarify the responsibility of governmental actors who conduct large-scale technology introductions for the future diffusion of related technologies

Resolving the Misalignment between Consumer Privacy Concerns and Ubiquitous IS Design: The Case of Usage-based Insurance

Ubiquitous IS enables novel services and business models, yet require a careful balancing of consumer privacy concerns (PC) – induced by the provision of particular sensors and information types – with functional performance in order to maximize acceptance. For the exemplary case of Usage-based Insurance (UBI), this paper presents a design science approach to the mitigation of PC under parallel consideration of functional system performance. Based on long-term location trajectories from 1’600 vehicles, we assess the predictive power of emulated system designs that substitute location information, presumably the most privacy sensitive type of information in current UBI designs. We find that there are substantial grounds to challenge prevalent design paradigms in UBI and infer general insights from this example for IS researchers and IT professionals, who, when seeking to improve system privacy, often focus on privacy-enhancing technologies instead of considering the socio-technical context of ubiquitous IS

Effects of Website Credibility and Brand Trust on Responses to Online Behavioral Advertising

Online behavioral advertising that tracks user data has witnessed a dramatic increase in popularity. Using Psychological Reactance Theory, this study examines the effects of brand trust and website credibility on responses to behavioral advertising via privacy concerns. A 2 (brand trust: high vs. low) by 2 (website credibility: high vs. low) between-subjects experiment was conducted (N = 424). Results suggest that while brand trust influences purchase intention—as mediated via affective reactance— website credibility only exerts modest effects on the dependent variables. Implications for user perception factors and contextual factors—including ad effectiveness in the digital personalized marketing realm—are discussed

Developing 3D Virtual Safety Risk Terrain for UAS Operations in Complex Urban Environments

Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), an integral part of the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) vision, are capable of performing a wide spectrum of tasks in urban environments. The societal integration of UAS is a pivotal challenge, as these systems must operate harmoniously within the constraints imposed by regulations and societal concerns. In complex urban environments, UAS safety has been a perennial obstacle to their large-scale deployment. To mitigate UAS safety risk and facilitate risk-aware UAS operations planning, we propose a novel concept called \textit{3D virtual risk terrain}. This concept converts public risk constraints in an urban environment into 3D exclusion zones that UAS operations should avoid to adequately reduce risk to Entities of Value (EoV). To implement the 3D virtual risk terrain, we develop a conditional probability framework that comprehensively integrates most existing basic models for UAS ground risk. To demonstrate the concept, we build risk terrains on a Chicago downtown model and observe their characteristics under different conditions. We believe that the 3D virtual risk terrain has the potential to become a new routine tool for risk-aware UAS operations planning, urban airspace management, and policy development. The same idea can also be extended to other forms of societal impacts, such as noise, privacy, and perceived risk.Comment: 33 pages, 19 figure

Digitalization of the individual : consequences, design, and behavior

In the past decades, digitalization has increasingly influenced our daily lives and habits in almost all areas and has even become indispensable for individuals, organizations, and society. The interactions between individuals and organizations have changed significantly as digitalization extends the boundaries of organizations to the point at which it affects individuals. Consequently, new research efforts and better understanding are essential to understand how the behavior of individuals is affected by the use of digital technologies, how customers demands change, and how the purchasing process of organizations needs to be adapted. Currently, the literature on digital transformation is mainly treating the organizational perspective. Nevertheless, organizations should not neglect the individual perspective as it is essential to understand customer needs and their consequences affected by digital technologies. Matt et al. (2019)1 present a holistic research framework with three research perspectives for the digitalization of the individual. This framework encompasses the behavior of individuals, the design of information systems, and the consequences that digitalization entails. Additionally, this research framework suggests that a digitized individual can take on different roles. The dissertation uses this framework of Matt et al. (2019)1 to structure and classify the covered contents and research objectives. The aim of this dissertation is to contribute to a comprehensive overview for organizations to understand their customers concerns regarding digital technologies, which design options they have to address these concerns, and how it influences their behavior to realize the potential of the technologies or reduce their harms. Therefore, this work applies pluralistic methodological approaches (qualitative methods, e.g., semi-structured interviews and qualitative content analysis, and quantitative methods, e.g., quantitative decision models and data collection from online questionnaires). With that, the dissertation provides novel insights for organizations to better implement digital technologies by regarding the consequences for individuals and the behavior of individuals. First, to contribute to an understanding of the negative consequences digitalization can bring along for individuals, part A of this dissertation presents two research articles that focus on the concerns of individuals. The research papers P1 and P2 show in two different domains what individuals are concerned about when using digital technologies and what prevents individuals from using them. Therefore, this dissertation presents knowledge about the fears and concerns of the individuals have and offers starting points to develop responsible and transparent digital technologies that address the concerns of the individuals. Second, to contribute to design approaches for information systems that enable organizations to increase customer satisfaction with digital products and services, part B presents design approaches that organizations can use to address individuals perceived consequences and change their behavior using digital technologies. Both research papers in part B present quantitative decision models as decision support for organizations. This dissertation offers two design approaches that provide organizations with information on designing technologies to serve digitized individuals and foster them better to make well-founded decisions when introducing digital technologies. Third, to contribute to the understanding of why and how individuals behave in certain ways and how this behavior can be influenced, Part C examines the behavior of individuals when using digital technologies. Research paper P5 develops a metric to better explore the privacy paradox. With that, this dissertation offers a basis, especially to researchers and individuals, to prevent unwanted behavior when using digital technologies. To sum up, this dissertation contributes to scientific knowledge in research on the digitalization of the individual and thus addresses a subject of fundamental importance in this digital age. The models and approaches developed in this dissertation explore ways to improve conditions for the digitized individual at all three research perspectives with equal regard for the individual as itself and the individual as a customer.In den vergangenen Jahrzehnten hat die Digitalisierung zunehmend unseren Alltag und unsere Gewohnheiten in nahezu Bereichen des Lebens beeinflusst und ist damit für Individuen, Organisationen und die Gesellschaft unverzichtbar geworden. So hat sich die Beziehung zwischen Individuen und Organisationen erheblich verändert, da die Digitalisierung die Organisationsgrenzen aufweicht und ihre Kund:innen mehr integriert. Folglich sind neue Forschungsanstrengungen und ein besseres Verständnis erforderlich, um nachvollziehen zu können, wie das Verhalten von Individuen durch den Einsatz digitaler Technologien beeinflusst wird, wie sich die Anforderungen von Kund:innen ändern und wie der Kaufprozess von Organisationen angepasst werden muss. Derzeit wird in der Literatur zum Themengebiet der digitalen Transformation hauptsächlich die organisationale Perspektive behandelt. Nichtsdestotrotz sollten Organisationen die individuelle Perspektive nicht vernachlässigen. Sie ist grundlegend, um die Kund:innenbedürfnisse, die durch digitale Technologien beeinflusst werden, und deren Folgen zu verstehen. Matt et al. (2019) stellen einen ganzheitlichen Forschungsrahmen mit drei Forschungsperspektiven für die Digitalisierung des Individuums vor. Dieser umfasst das Verhalten der Individuen, die Gestaltung von Informationssystemen und die Konsequenzen, die die Digitalisierung für Individuen mit sich bringen kann. Zusätzlich zeigt dieser, dass ein digitalisiertes Individuum verschiedene Rollen einnehmen kann. Die Dissertation nutzt das Framework von Matt et al. (2019), um die Inhalte und Forschungsziele zu strukturieren und einzuordnen. Ziel dieser Dissertation ist es, einen Beitrag zu einem umfassenden Überblick für Organisationen zu leisten, um die Individuen im Zuge der Digitalisierung zu verstehen. Dabei wird untersucht, welche Bedenken ihre Kund:innen in Bezug auf digitale Technologien haben, welche Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten sie haben, um diese Bedenken zu adressieren, und wie es das Verhalten von Kund:innen beeinflusst. Dadurch können sie das Potenzial dieser Technologien realisieren oder ihre Schäden reduzieren. Diese Arbeit wendet eine Vielzahl an methodischen Ansätzen an (qualitative Methoden, z.B. halbstrukturierte Interviews und qualitative Inhaltsanalyse, und quantitative Methoden, z.B. quantitative Entscheidungsmodelle und Datenerhebung aus Online-Fragebögen). Damit liefert die Dissertation neue Erkenntnisse für Organisationen, um digitale Technologien besser zu implementieren, indem sie die Konsequenzen für Individuen und das Verhalten von Individuen betrachtet. Um erstens einen Beitrag zum besseren Verständnis der negativen Folgen, die die Digitalisierung für den Einzelnen mit sich bringen kann, zu leisten, umfasst Teil A dieser Dissertation zwei Forschungsartikel, die sich mit den Bedenken des Einzelnen beschäftigen. Die Forschungsartikel P1 und P2 zeigen in zwei unterschiedlichen Bereichen, welche Bedenken Individuen bei der Nutzung digitaler Technologien haben und was Individuen davon abhält, diese zu nutzen. Daher präsentiert diese Dissertation Wissen über die Ängste und Bedenken der Individuen und bietet Ansatzpunkte, um verantwortungsvolle und transparente digitale Technologien zu entwickeln. Um zweitens einen Beitrag zu Gestaltungsansätzen für Informationssysteme zu leisten, werden in Teil B Gestaltungsansätze vorgestellt, mit denen Organisationen die wahrgenommenen Konsequenzen für Individuen adressieren und das Verhalten im Umgang mit digitalen Technologien ändern können. Diese ermöglichen es Organisationen die Kund:innenzufriedenheit bei der Nutzung von digitalen Produkten und Dienstleistungen zu erhöhen. Beide Forschungsarbeiten in Teil B stellen quantitative Entscheidungsmodelle als Entscheidungshilfe für Organisationen vor. Diese Dissertation bietet zwei Gestaltungsansätze, die Organisationen Informationen zur Gestaltung von Informationssystemen liefern und sie dabei unterstützen, fundierte Entscheidungen bei der Einführung digitaler Technologien zu treffen. Drittens, um zum Verständnis beizutragen, warum und wie sich Individuen auf bestimmte Weise verhalten und wie dieses Verhalten beeinflusst werden kann, wird in Teil C das Verhalten von Individuen bei der Nutzung digitaler Technologien untersucht. P5 entwickelt eine Metrik, um das Privacy-Paradoxon besser zu erforschen. Damit bietet diese Dissertation eine Grundlage, insbesondere für Forscherinnen und Forscher sowie Individuen, um unerwünschtes Verhalten bei der Nutzung digitaler Technologien zu verhindern. Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass diese Dissertation wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse zur Erforschung der Digitalisierung des Individuums leistet und damit ein Thema von grundlegender Bedeutung im digitalen Zeitalter behandelt. Die in dieser Dissertation entwickelten Modelle und Ansätze zeigen Wege auf, wie die Bedingungen für das digitalisierte Individuum auf allen drei Forschungsperspektiven verbessert werden können

Review of Research on Privacy Decision Making from a Time Perspective

Managing privacy is a process in which people continuously negotiate the boundaries of their personal space. Time is embedded in and influences this continuous negotiation. Digital technologies increasingly incorporate temporal elements, such as allowing users to define the expiration date of social network postings. Yet, researchers have not systematically examined the effects of temporal elements in privacy decision making. In this paper, we review how existing information privacy research has related to time in terms of three dimensions: duration, timing, and past, present, and future modalities. Our findings suggest that 1) duration has a negative influence on information disclosure; 2) timing, in the form of personal and external events, influences how people make privacy decisions; and 3) sensemaking that involves prior experience and planning for the future affect privacy decisions. We discuss how privacy decision making frameworks need to be adjusted to account for a time perspective

“They’re All the Same!” Stereotypical Thinking and Systematic Errors in Users’ Privacy-Related Judgments About Online Services

Given the ever-increasing volume of online services, it has become impractical for Internet users to study every company’s handling of information privacy separately and in detail. This challenges a central assumption held by most information privacy research to date—that users engage in deliberate information processing when forming their privacy-related beliefs about online services. In this research, we complement previous studies that emphasize the role of mental shortcuts when individuals assess how a service will handle their personal information. We investigate how a particular mental shortcut—users’ stereotypical thinking about providers’ handling of user information—can cause systematic judgment errors when individuals form their beliefs about an online service. In addition, we explore the effectiveness of counter-stereotypic privacy statements in preventing such judgment errors. Drawing on data collected at two points in time from a representative sample of smartphone users, we studied systematic errors caused by stereotypical thinking in the context of a mobile news app. We found evidence for stereotype-induced errors in users’ judgments regarding this provider, despite the presence of counter-stereotypic privacy statements. Our results further suggest that the tone of these statements makes a significant difference in mitigating the judgment errors caused by stereotypical thinking. Our findings contribute to emerging knowledge about the role of cognitive biases and systematic errors in the context of information privacy