PRIVACY-RELATED DECISION-MAKING IN THE CONTEXT OF WEARABLE USE

The widespread use of wearables for self-tracking activities despite potential privacy risks is an intriguing phenomenon. For firms, the data collected from individuals’ wearable use are highly valuable for generating in-depth customer insights. Accordingly, firms have an increasing desire for these data. Despite the undisputed relevance of self-tracking activities in practice, there is scarce knowledge among information systems (IS) scholars about the perceived values of wearables that drive individuals’ use and the reasons why these values prevail over the privacy risks. Against this background, our research set out to better understand why people use wearables despite privacy risks by investigating the perceived values of wearables that drive individuals’ use and disclosure of data and the reasons why these values prevail over privacy risks of wearable use. Based on the concept of the privacy calculus and concepts from behavioural decision-making, we conducted in-depth interviews with 22 wearable users from Switzerland. As a result, we reveal eight values that individuals perceive through the use of wearable devices. Furthermore, we illustrate the low awareness regarding privacy risks and explain how the reliance on prominent dimensions and heuristics are influencing individuals’ value-risk assessment

On the Impact of Information Provided to Employees on their Intention to Disclose Data Collected by Smart Watches to their Employers

Companies are increasingly equipping employees with smart watches to improve employees\u27 performance, health, or safety. Thus employers can collect sensitive employees\u27 data using smart watches, including, e.g., employees\u27 health and emotions. This paper investigates the effects of employers\u27 provided information on the employees\u27 intention to share information like activity, health, and location when equipped with a smart watch, considering the privacy calculus. To this end, we have conducted a scenario-based online survey with 1,214 participants in which they have to imagine being equipped with a smart watch by their employer. The scenario was changed in a post-test by increasing employers\u27 provided information to measure the impact of this change on the participants\u27 decisions. Our results indicate that the more information employers provide, the less the participants are willing to disclose data. Therefore, employees who obtain transparent information tend to weigh risks significantly higher in the associated cost-benefit analysis

Using Privacy Calculus Theory To Assess Users´ Acceptance Of Video Conferencing Apps During The Covid-19 Pandemic

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Information Management, specialization in Information Systems and Technologies ManagementVideoconferencing (VC) applications (apps) are getting notable attention worldwide, from common citizens to professionals as an alternative to vis-à-vis communication specifically during COVID-19. The growth of VC apps is expected to rise even more in the future with the prediction that widespread adoption of remote work will continue to hold even after the pandemic. This research investigates the key drivers for individuals’ intentions into continuing to use this technology in professional settings. Considering the importance of professionals’ perceptions of privacy in professionals’ settings, this study proposes a conceptual model rooted in the theoretical foundations of privacy calculus theory, extended with the conceptualization of privacy concerns for mobile users (MUIPC), ubiquity, and theoretical underpinnings from social presence theory. The conceptual research model was empirically tested by using data collected from a survey of 487 actual users of videoconferencing apps across Europe. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is performed to test the model. The study revealed several findings (1) perceived value in using VC apps motivates the professionals to continue using VC apps and shapes their perception as they evaluate the risk-benefit trade-off they are making when using VC apps. (2) professionals’ indeed form and articulate their own assessment of value based on the perceived risks and benefits associated with using VC apps. However, professionals' perceptions of value are strongly influenced by potential benefits received from using VC apps than by potential risks associated with using VC apps. (3) professionals’ perceived risk is determined by MUIPC and trust. (4) professionals’ perceived benefits are shaped by ubiquity and social presence. For researchers, this study highlights the usefulness of integrating privacy calculus theory, social presence theory and trust in studying the individuals’ behavioral intentions towards new technologies. For practitioners, understanding the key determinants is pivotal to design and build mobile video-conferencing apps that achieve higher consumer acceptance and higher rates of continued usage of VC apps in professional settings

DESIGN AND EXPLORATION OF NEW MODELS FOR SECURITY AND PRIVACY-SENSITIVE COLLABORATION SYSTEMS

Collaboration has been an area of interest in many domains including education, research, healthcare supply chain, Internet of things, and music etc. It enhances problem solving through expertise sharing, ideas sharing, learning and resource sharing, and improved decision making. To address the limitations in the existing literature, this dissertation presents a design science artifact and a conceptual model for collaborative environment. The first artifact is a blockchain based collaborative information exchange system that utilizes blockchain technology and semi-automated ontology mappings to enable secure and interoperable health information exchange among different health care institutions. The conceptual model proposed in this dissertation explores the factors that influences professionals continued use of video- conferencing applications. The conceptual model investigates the role the perceived risks and benefits play in influencing professionals’ attitude towards VC apps and consequently its active and automatic use

Intelligent Conversational Agents in Mental Healthcare Services: A Thematic Analysis of User Perceptions

Background: The emerging Artificial Intelligence (AI) based Conversational Agents (CA) capable of delivering evidence-based psychotherapy presents a unique opportunity to solve longstanding issues such as social stigma and demand-supply imbalance associated with traditional mental health care services. However, the emerging literature points to several socio-ethical challenges which may act as inhibitors to the adoption in the minds of the consumers. We also observe a paucity of research focusing on determinants of adoption and use of AI-based CAs in mental healthcare. In this setting, this study aims to understand the factors influencing the adoption and use of Intelligent CAs in mental healthcare by examining the perceptions of actual users. Method: The study followed a qualitative approach based on netnography and used a rigorous iterative thematic analysis of publicly available user reviews of popular mental health chatbots to develop a comprehensive framework of factors influencing the user’s decision to adopt mental healthcare CA. Results: We developed a comprehensive thematic map comprising of four main themes, namely, perceived risk, perceived benefits, trust, and perceived anthropomorphism, along with its 12 constituent subthemes that provides a visualization of the factors that govern the user’s adoption and use of mental healthcare CA. Conclusions: Insights from our research could guide future research on mental healthcare CA use behavior. Additionally, it could also aid designers in framing better design decisions that meet consumer expectations. Our research could also guide healthcare policymakers and regulators in integrating this technology into formal healthcare delivery systems. Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/pajais/vol12/iss2/1

Implementing data-driven systems for work and health: The role of incentives in the use of physiolytics

Following the recent success of health wearable devices (smartwatches, activity trackers) for personal and leisure activities, organizations have started to build digital occupational health programs and data-driven health insurance around these systems. In this way, firms or health insurance companies seek to both support a new form of health promotion for their workforce/clients and to take advantage of large amounts of collected data for organizational purposes. Still, the success in the implementation of wearable health devices (also known as physiolytics) in organizational settings is entirely dependent on the individual motivation to adopt and use physiolytics over time (since organizations cannot establish a mandated use). Therefore, organizations often use incentives to encourage individuals to participate in such data-driven programs. Yet, little is known about these mechanisms that serve to align the interests of an organization with the interests of a group of individuals. This is an important challenge because these incentives may blunder the frontiers between what is voluntary and what is not. Against this background, this thesis aims, from a critical realist perspective, to build general knowledge regarding incentives in physiolytics-centered organizational programs. By doing so, individuals may be able to recognize challenges linked to participation in such programs; organizations may create sensible incentives; policymakers may identify new social issues that appear with this form of digitalization in organizations; and, finally, researchers may investigate new practical and social challenges regarding digitalization in organizations. In concrete terms, the first explorative phase of the thesis shows that feedback, gamification features and financial incentives are the most implemented incentives in physiolytics-centered organizational programs. There is also an overrepresentation of financial incentives for data-health plans, indicating that health insurance companies are building their strategy on external motivators. A second, more explanatory phase serves to further explore these types of incentives and specify recommendations by taking a higher perspective than normative views, so that it is possible to create more alternative managerial strategies or develop other policy perspectives. This part principally shows that the most influential incentives on user behavior are the ones that are transparent, that stimulate individual empowerment, and that propose defined benefits. In terms of contributions, this thesis allows individuals to evaluate how their autonomy and integrity is impacted by incentives in such data-driven programs. This thesis also outlines the necessity for organizations to invest time and resources to know their audience. Organizations additionally need to develop several strategies, by mixing incentives or gradually introducing them. Policymakers must ensure that regulations permit the clear consent of participants; guarantee a proportionality of incentives, and involve entities that can guide individuals through data-sharing. Finally, this thesis enables researchers to further investigate how organizations can develop appropriate and desirable environments regarding data-driven technology, so that individuals may enhance their decision-making processes and organizations may succeed in their implementation

A Privacy Calculus Model for Personal Mobile Devices

Personal mobile devices (PMDs) initiated a multi-dimensional paradigmatic shift in personal computing and personal information collection fueled by the indispensability of the Internet and the increasing functionality of the devices. From 2005 to 2016, the perceived necessity of conducting transactions on the Internet moved from optional to indispensable. The context of these transactions changes from traditional desktop and laptop computers, to the inclusion of smartphones and tablets (PMDs). However, the traditional privacy calculus published by (Dinev and Hart 2006) was conceived before this technological and contextual change, and several core assumptions of that model must be re-examined and possibly adapted or changed to account for this shift. This paradigm shift impacts the decision process individuals use to disclose personal information using PMDs. By nature of their size, portability, and constant proximity to the user, PMDs collect, contain, and distribute unprecedented amounts of personal information. Even though the context within which people are sharing information has changed significantly, privacy calculus research applied to PMDs has not moved far from the seminal work by Dinev and Hart (2006). The traditional privacy calculus risk-benefit model is limited in the PMD context because users are unaware of how much personal information is being shared, how often it is shared, or to whom it is shared. Furthermore, the traditional model explains and predicts intent to disclose rather than actual disclosure. However, disclosure intentions are a poor predictor of actual information disclosure. Because of perceived indispensability of the information and the inability to assess potential risk, the deliberate comparison of risks to benefits prior to disclosure—a core assumption of the traditional privacy calculus—may not be the most effective basis of a model to predict and explain disclosure. The present research develops a Personal Mobile Device Privacy Calculus model designed to predict and explain disclosure behavior within the specific context of actual disclosure of personal information using PMDs

Assessing Faculty’s Use of Social Network Tools in Libyan Higher Education via a Technology Acceptance Model

Recently, many educational institutes are expanding their education delivery methodologies to incorporate online, remote, and flexible learning, which is a strategic response to facilitate and fulfil the increasing demand for access to higher education. Unfortunately, online education requires substantial investments in different online education platforms, technologies, and infrastructure, creating obstacles for realising the online education strategy for many developing countries. In this paper, we argue that we could use social networks as one of the delivery platforms for online education, due to their easy access and popularity among young generations. Therefore, we carried out this study to measure and analyse the acceptance of faculty and educational stakeholders for social networks adoption as an educational delivery platform. Hence, we adapted the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to determine and analyse the factors and variants affecting faculty’s acceptance. We used the TAM as an internal variable, and we used privacy, infrastructure, institutional support and access devices as external variables to assess the faculty needs for adopting social networks into educational settings. The study examined 14 hypotheses corresponding to these factors using data collected from 382 respondents in six different universities within Libya, performing structural equation modelling, descriptive analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis. Results show that privacy, institutional support, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use were seen to have a significant effect on behavioural intention. Additionally, perceived ease of use and behavioural intention contributed significantly towards the actual usage of social networks. The results also show that faculty and educational stakeholders have not provided enough for institutions or encouraged the use of social networks within the context of educational institutions across Libya.Publisher's Versio