The Psychology of Privacy in the Digital Age

Privacy is a psychological topic suffering from historical neglect – a neglect that is increasingly consequential in an era of social media connectedness, mass surveillance and the permanence of our electronic footprint. Despite fundamental changes in the privacy landscape, social and personality psychology journals remains largely unrepresented in debates on the future of privacy. By contrast, in disciplines like computer science and media and communication studies, engaging directly with socio- technical developments, interest in privacy has grown considerably. In our review of this interdisciplinary literature we suggest four domains of interest to psychologists. These are: sensitivity to individual differences in privacy disposition; a claim that privacy is fundamentally based in social interactions; a claim that privacy is inherently contextual; and a suggestion that privacy is as much about psychological groups as it is about individuals. Moreover, we propose a framework to enable progression to more integrative models of the psychology of privacy in the digital age, and in particular suggest that a group and social relations based approach to privacy is needed

Shared Benefits and Information Privacy: What Determines Smart Meter Technology Adoption?

An unexplored gap in IT adoption research concerns the positive role of shared benefits even when personal information is exposed. To explore the evaluation paradigm of shared benefits versus the forfeiture of personal information, we analyze how utility consumers use smart metering technology (SMT). In this context, utility companies can monitor electricity usage and directly control consumers’ appliances to disable them during peak load conditions. Such information could reveal consumers’ habits and lifestyles and, thus, stimulating concerns about their privacy and the loss of control over their appliances. Responding to calls for theory contextualization, we assess the efficacy of applying extant adoption theories in this emergent context while adding the perspective of the psychological ownership of information. We use the factorial survey method to assess consumers’ intentions to adopt SMT in the presence of specific conditions that could reduce the degree of their privacy or their control over their appliances and electricity usage data. Our findings suggest that, although the shared benefit of avoiding disruptions in electricity supply (brownouts) is a significant factor in electricity consumers’ decisions to adopt SMT, concerns about control and information privacy are also factors. Our findings extend the previous adoption research by exploring the role of shared benefits and could provide utility companies with insights into the best ways to present SMT to alleviate consumers’ concerns and maximize its adoption

Consumer vulnerability: understanding transparency and control in the online environment

Purpose – In the online environment, consumers increasingly feel vulnerable due to firms’ expanding capabilities of collecting and using their data in an unsanctioned manner. Drawing from gossip theory, this research focuses on two key suppressors of consumer vulnerability: transparency and control. Previous studies conceptualize transparency and control from rationalistic approaches that overlook individual experiences and present a unidimensional conceptualization. This research aims to understand how individuals interpret transparency and control concerning privacy vulnerability in the online environment. Additionally, it explores strategic approaches to communicating the value of transparency and control. Design/methodology/approach – An interpretivism paradigm and phenomenology were adopted in the research design. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 41 participants, including consumers and experts, and analyzed through thematic analysis. Findings – The findings identify key conceptual dimensions of transparency and control by adapting justice theory. They also reveal that firms can communicate assurance, functional, technical, and social values of transparency and control to address consumer vulnerability. Originality – This research makes the following contributions to the data privacy literature. The findings exhibit multidimensional and comprehensive conceptualizations of transparency and control, including user, firm, and information perspectives. Additionally, the conceptual framework combines empirical insights from both experiencers and observers to offer an understanding of how transparency and control serve as justice mechanisms to effectively tackle the issue of unsanctioned transmission of personal information and subsequently address vulnerability. Lastly, the findings provide strategic approaches to communicating the value of transparency and control

The interpersonal privacy identity (IPI): development of a privacy as control model

The Internet and social computing technology have revolutionized our ability to gather information as well as enabled new modes of communication and forms of self-expression. As the popularity of social computing technologies has increased, our society has begun to witness modifications in socialization behaviors. Social psychology theory suggests that technological changes can influence an individual?s expectation of privacy, through adaptive behaviors resulting from use (Laufer and Wolfe in J Soc Issues 33(3): 22?42 (1977)). We adapt traditional privacy theory to explore the influence of developmental and environmental factors on the individual?s inner privacy identity, which is comprised of the individual?s belief in his or her right to control (1) personal information and (2) interactions with others, and is continuously shaped by privacy experiences. We then use the inner privacy identity to examine interpersonal behaviors in the online context. We find that individuals? belief in their right to control their information impacts their information disclosure practices when consequences are implied and that their belief in their right to control the interaction impacts their online information sharing practices. We do not find support for a relationship between the interaction management component of the IPI and online interaction behavior, which considered in the presence of the relationship between interaction management and online information sharing, suggests that interaction behavior is more complicated in the online context. Insights from the model developed in this study can inform future studies of situational privacy behaviors.Scopu