A Synthesized Perspective on Privacy and Transparency in the Digital Workplace

The pandemic crisis has made the digitalization of workplaces imperative for many organizations. Besides reorganizing work, rapid advances in technologies also enhance organizational efficiency and enable remote work. Having to work completely digitally imposes unprecedented transparency on employees. A major consequence of the transparent workplace is the emergence of employees’ privacy concerns. Even though the concepts of transparency and privacy are closely related, there is a research gap regarding the relationship between the two. Based on a conceptual approach and a systematic literature review, we postulate a synthesis of transparency and privacy in the digital workplace, and outline directions for future research. We discuss what makes the relationship between the two constructs double-edged by introducing the privacy-transparency paradox. This study therefore adds to the literature on privacy and transparency in the digital workplace and forms the basis for further studies

Privacy as a Public Good

Privacy is commonly studied as a private good: my personal data is mine to protect and control, and yours is yours. This conception of privacy misses an important component of the policy problem. An individual who is careless with data exposes not only extensive information about herself, but about others as well. The negative externalities imposed on nonconsenting outsiders by such carelessness can be productively studied in terms of welfare economics. If all relevant individuals maximize private benefit, and expect all other relevant individuals to do the same, neoclassical economic theory predicts that society will achieve a suboptimal level of privacy. This prediction holds even if all individuals cherish privacy with the same intensity. As the theoretical literature would have it, the struggle for privacy is destined to become a tragedy. But according to the experimental public-goods literature, there is hope. Like in real life, people in experiments cooperate in groups at rates well above those predicted by neoclassical theory. Groups can be aided in their struggle to produce public goods by institutions, such as communication, framing, or sanction. With these institutions, communities can manage public goods without heavy-handed government intervention. Legal scholarship has not fully engaged this problem in these terms. In this Article, we explain why privacy has aspects of a public good, and we draw lessons from both the theoretical and the empirical literature on public goods to inform the policy discourse on privacy

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

A design theory for transparency of information privacy practices

The rising diffusion of information systems (IS) throughout society poses an increasingly serious threat to privacy as a social value. One approach to alleviating this threat is to establish transparency of i nformation privacy practices (TIPP) so that consumers can better understand how their information is processed. However, the design of transparency artifacts (eg, privacy notices) has clearly not followed this approach, given the ever-increasing volume of information processing. Hence, consumers face a situation where they cannot see the ‘forest for the trees’ when aiming to ascertain whether information processing meets their privacy expectations. A key problem is that overly comprehensive information presentation results in information overload and is thus counterproductive for establishing TIPP. We depart from the extant design logic of transparency artifacts and develop a theoretical foundation (TIPP theory) for transparency artifact designs useful for establishing TIPP from the perspective of privacy as a social value. We present TIPP theory in two parts to capture the sociotechnical interplay. The first part translates abstract knowledge on the IS artifact and privacy into a description of social subsystems of transparency artifacts, and the second part conveys prescriptive design knowledge in form of a corresponding IS design theory. TIPP theory establishes a bridge from the complexity of the privacy concept to a metadesign for transparency artifacts that is useful to establish TIPP in any IS. In essence, transparency artifacts must accomplish more than offering comprehensive information; they must also be adaptive to the current information needs of consumers

Privacy Awareness in Mobile Business: How Mobile OS and Apps Support Transparency in the Use of Personal Data

Personal data of consumers has become a highly valuable resource in e-business. Tech-nologies like smartphones, social networks or search engines help to access, collect and monitor an almost infinite amount of data about consumers. In this environment the traditional notice and consent principle seems insufficient for effective privacy protec-tion. Awareness and control are constituting parts of an effective privacy management. This paper investigates how privacy awareness is supported in mobile business. Due to the critical privacy situation in this field, several third-party privacy enhancing mobile apps emerged beside the OS functionalities. The paper explores what information objects these awareness enhancing apps provide. Based on a detailed analysis of 19 apps, a set of 11 information objects is identified that contributes to 4 dimensions of privacy aware-ness. The findings show that the OS mainly focus on transparency regarding permission systems, that users can obtain more information about the use of their data by using specialized apps and that some dimensions of privacy awareness are almost not sup-ported and open for research as well as the development of new solutions