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Introduction
“Information privacy” – more specifically, digital privacy – has been defined as an interest held by individuals to control or influence how their private information is used (Pavlou, 2011; Smith et al., 2011). Digital privacy is often conceptualized from a value-based perspective, with the assumption that people have the legal and/or ethical right to keep their data safe. Additionally, this construct has been conceptualized as a commodity that may be bought or exchanged (Pavlou, 2011). However, context is important to the notion of digital privacy, which is defined and experienced differently depending on the specific culture studied, context, and situation.
“Information privacy concern” – specifically, about digital privacy – is often defined by the perception of losing control of one’s personal information, with possible secondary use by others parties (Bélanger and Crossler, 2011; Pavlou, 2011). Other conceptualizations include dimensions of apprehension regarding data collection, unauthorized secondary use, improper data access, and errors (Malhotra et al., 2004). Recent non-academic surveys demonstrate widespread concern about digital privacy. In a US survey, 91 percent of respondents reported concern regarding losing control over how their electronic data are collected and used (Kedmey, 2014). Another US survey found that more than half of respondents reported concern about sharing private data through social media and messaging platforms (Madden, 2014, November 12). Also, in a global survey of 23,000 respondents in 24 countries, 80 percent of those surveyed reported concern about hacked online accounts and unauthorized companies selling personal data (Centre for International Governance Innovation & IPSOS, 2014). Moreover, several academic studies investigated digital privacy concern about electronic data (Oulasvirta et al., 2014), including with social networking sites (SNS) (Nemec Zlatolas et al., 2015; Osatuyi, 2015), and smartphones (Kang and Shin, 2016; Mamonov and Benbunan-Fich, 2015). Other specific privacy concerns that have been examined include keystroke loggers, physical exercise data monitoring, video surveillance (Oulasvirta et al., 2014), and geo-location data leaks (Mamonov and Benbunan-Fich, 2015). Reactions to such digital privacy concerns involve measureable outcomes, such as decreased self-disclosure and online purchasing (Smith et al., 2011).
There are numerous contemporary threats to digital privacy. Threats to digital privacy include vulnerability of financial data among consumers (Bohannon, 2015; Elbeltagi and Agag, 2016), private location data leaked from...