The interplay between privacy failure, recovery and crisis communication management: an integrative review and research agenda

Purpose of the paper: To integrate different research streams related to privacy, service recovery and crisis communication management in order to systematize and summarize the existing knowledge on recovery after a privacy failure. It also aims to develop an agenda for future research. Methodology: An integrative literature review assesses and synthesizes previous literature, integrating multiple research streams and proposing a new theoretical framework and research agenda. We identify articles of potential interest in three online databases using keywords, and select those relating to privacy and privacy failure, crisis communication management and service recovery after privacy failure across multiple industries. Findings: Reviewing literature streams on privacy, service recovery and crisis communication management reveals that multiple theories and approaches have been used to focus on this topic. The most widely used are Justice Theory, Attribution Theory and Situational Crisis Communication Theory. The fragmentation of theories and approaches in different research streams reveals the need for a comprehensive overview of the growing complexity of the phenomenon. Key variables explaining how consumers react to service recovery after privacy failure are identified and summarized in a framework. Research limits: Because the number of publications is rising rapidly, quantitative insights require methodologies such as a systematic literature review or a meta-analysis. Practical implications: Findings have implications and offer directions for future academic research. Originality of the paper: This is the first paper that attempts to integrate different research streams in service recovery from privacy failure to develop a theoretical overview on the topic and to attract academic attention on the interplay between privacy failure, recovery and crisis communication management

Public attitudes towards privacy in COVID-19 times in the Republic of Ireland: a pilot study

This research focuses on designing methods aimed at assessing Irish public attitudes regarding privacy in COVID-19 times and their influence on the adoption of COVID-19 spread control technology such as the COVID tracker app. The success of such technologies is dependent on their adoption rate and privacy concerns may be a factor delaying or preventing thus adoption. An online questionnaire was built to collect: demographic data, participant's general privacy profile using the Privacy Segmentation Index (PSI) which classifies individuals into 3 groups (privacy fundamentalists, pragmatists, and unconcerned), and the attitudes toward privacy in COVID-19 times. The questionnaire was shared via websites and social networks. The data was collected between 27/08/2020 to 27/9/2020. We received and analysed 258 responses. The initial pilot study found that almost 73% of the respondents were pragmatists or unconcerned about privacy when it came to sharing their private data. Comparable results were obtained with other privacy studies that have employed PSI. The pilot indicates a huge increase, from 12% pre-pandemic to 61% during the pandemic, of people willing to share their data. The questionnaire developed following this study is further used in a national survey on privacy in COVID-19 times

Privacy in times of COVID-19: a pilot study in the Republic of Ireland

Contact tracing apps used in tracing and mitigating the spread of COVID-19 have sparked discussions and controversies worldwide with major concerns around privacy. COVID Tracker app used in the Republic of Ireland was praised in general for the way it addressed privacy and was used as baseline for other contact tracing apps worldwide. The success of the app is dependent on the general public uptake, hence their voice and attitude is the one that really matters. This paper focuses on developing a survey and the methods aiming to examine the attitudes toward privacy during COVID-19 of the general public in the Republic of Ireland and their impact on the uptake of the COVID tracker app. Various privacy models are used and health belief model as well in this purpose. A pilot study with 286 participants show a change in attitude towards privacy during COVID-19 pandemic, with more people willing to share their data in the interest of saving lives. However, privacy attitudes are shown to have impacted the adoption of the app in Ireland

Competition, privacy, and justifications: Invoking privacy to justify abusive conduct under Article 102 TFEU

This article aims to delineate the extent to which potentially anticompetitive behaviour that simultaneously improve user privacy are cognizable as efficiencies or objective justifications within the context of unilateral conduct cases in European competition law. After mapping the existing literature, it moves on to discuss whether the decisional guidance of the European Commission, as well as the case-law of the Union Courts, allow the invocation of privacy as proper grounds to mount a defense against abusive prac- tices. In order to concretise the theoretical discussions, the article focuses on two recent and highly relevant developments: Apple’s App-Tracking Transparency initiative, and Google’s unveiling of the Privacy Sandbox. It finds that the state of the law pertaining to the second stage of an abuse case is underdeveloped and needs clarification. Nevertheless, considering the recent developments surrounding European competition law in general, and the digital transformation in particular, both efficiencies and objective justifications are likely to find room for application in the digital economy. On the one hand, efficiencies must be evaluated within the context of substantive symmetry, legal coherence, and economic considerations in a manner that caters to consumer choice. On the other hand, one must approach objective justifications with nuance, lest they give rise to unintended consequences resulting from recent judicial and legislative developments. Overall, it is apparent that the case-law provides valuable insights as to the im- plementation of efficiency arguments and objective justifications in a privacy context. However, the concepts are nonetheless in need of further analysis, in the absence of which their successful invocation re- mains rather unlikely. In that regard, the article concludes by highlighting points of potential contention in the future

Internet users' valuation of enhanced data protection on social media: which aspects of privacy are worth the most?

As the development of the Internet and social media has led to pervasive data collection and usage practices, consumers’ privacy concerns have increasingly grown stronger. While previous research has investigated consumer valuation of personal data and privacy, only few studies have investigated valuation of different privacy aspects (e.g., third party sharing). Addressing this research gap in the literature, the present study explores Internet users’ valuations of three different privacy aspects on a social networking service (i.e., Facebook), which are commonly captured in privacy policies (i.e., data collection, data control, and third party sharing). A total of 350 participants will be recruited for an experimental online study. The experimental design will consecutively contrast a conventional, free-of-charge version of Facebook with four hypothetical, privacy-enhanced premium versions of the same service. The privacy-enhanced premium versions will offer (1) restricted data collection on side of the company; (2) enhanced data control for users; and (3) no third party sharing, respectively. A fourth premium version offers full protection of all three privacy aspects. Participants’ valuation of the privacy aspects captured in the premium versions will be quantified measuring willingness-to-pay. Additionally, a psychological test battery will be employed to examine the psychological mechanisms (e.g., privacy concerns, trust, and risk perceptions) underlying the valuation of privacy. Overall, this study will offer insights into valuation of different privacy aspects, thus providing valuable suggestions for economically sustainable privacy enhancements and alternative business models that are beneficial to consumers, businesses, practitioners, and policymakers, alike

Business as usual through contact tracing app: What influences intention to download?

A contact tracing app can positively support the requirement of social and physical distancing during a pandemic. However, there are aspects of the user’s intention to download the app that remain under-researched. To address this, we investigate the role of perceived privacy risks, social empowerment, perceived information transparency and control, and attitudes towards government, in influencing the intention to download the contact tracing app. Using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), we found eight different configurations of asymmetrical relationships of conditions that lead to the presence or absence of an intention to download. In our study, social empowerment significantly influences the presence of an intention to download. We also found that perceived information transparency significantly influences the absence of an intention to download the app