Mobile application security: Role of perceived privacy as the predictor of security perceptions

Despite mobile applications being at the frontier of mobile computation technologies, security issues pose a threat to their adoption and diffusion. Recent studies suggest that security violations could be mitigated through improved security behaviors and attitudes, not just through better technologies. Existing literature on behavioral security suggests that one of the main predictors of users’ perceptions of security is their perceived privacy concerns. Using communication privacy management theory (CPM), this study examines the effects of privacy-related perceptions, such as privacy risk and the effectiveness of privacy policies, on the security perceptions of mobile app users. To empirically test the proposed theoretical model, two survey studies were conducted using mobile apps requesting less sensitive information (n = 487) and more sensitive information (n = 559). The findings show that the perceived privacy risk negatively influences the perceived security of the mobile apps; the perceived effectiveness of a privacy policy positively influences user perceptions of mobile app security; and perceived privacy awareness moderates the effect of perceived privacy risk on the perceived security of mobile apps. The results also suggest that users have different privacy-security perceptions based on the information sensitivity of the mobile apps. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

非授权信息使用与信息脆弱性、转换行为的关系研究——隐私保护措施的调节作用

基于企业非授权信息使用在手机购物APP情境下对消费者的影响,根据收集的269份消费者问卷,对提出的概念模型与研究假设进行检验.研究结果显示,非授权信息使用会增加消费者感知的信息脆弱性,而信息脆弱性则会促进消费者的转换行为;另外,信息设置有效性和信息政策有效性都可以减弱信息脆弱性与转换行为之间的正向关系.研究不仅促进相关...     

Intention to disclose personal information via mobile applications: A privacy calculus perspective

This study aimed to investigate the issue of consumer intention to disclose personal information via mobile applications (apps). Drawing on the literature of privacy calculus theory, this research examined the factors that influence the trade-off decision of receiving perceived benefits and being penalized with perceived risks through the calculus lens. In particular, two paths of the direct effects on perceived benefits and risks that induce the ultimate intention to disclose personal information via mobile apps were proposed and empirically tested. The analysis showed that self-presentation and personalized services positively influence consumers’ perceived benefits, which in turn positively affects the intention to disclose personal information. Perceived severity and perceived control serve as the direct antecedents of perceived risks that negatively affect the intention of consumers to disclose personal information. Compared with the perceived risks, the perceived benefits more strongly influence the intention to disclose personal information. This study extends the literature on privacy concerns to consumer intention to disclose personal information by theoretically developing and empirically testing four hypotheses in a research model. Results were validated in the mobile context, and implications and discussions were presented.     

社交媒体用户隐私设置行为实证研究——以微信平台为例

[目的/意义] 为研究中国情境下社交媒体用户隐私设置行为的影响机制,为隐私设置功能的设计与开发提供参考依据。[方法/过程] 本文以微信活跃用户为研究对象,基于计划行为理论和技术接受模型,构建了隐私设置行为影响因素理论模型。[结果/结论] 研究结果表明：隐私设置行为主要受到隐私设置意愿和感知控制影响;隐私关注、感知有用性、感知易用性正向影响隐私设置意愿;感知易用性、信任、交互公平正向影响感知控制;隐私关注和感知易用性都正向影响感知有用性。     

The non-monetary benefits of mobile commerce: Extending UTAUT2 with perceived value

Consumers can conduct mobile commerce via their smartphones. They can search for products and when ready, they pay and have the products delivered to their homes. By sharing personal information, they receive faster and more customized service. Because of the risk of loss of privacy, consumers need to balance their privacy concerns against the perceived value of enhanced mobile commerce. In this empirical study, the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) is modified where perceived value replaces price value to represent the value of an IT artifact that has no direct costs attributable to it. The framework is extended to include constructs from the privacy calculus. In addition, the construct of personal innovativeness is added as a moderator with the anticipation that owners of smartphones who are more personally innovative will be more willing to share information. From an empirical study of Canadian smartphone owners, the results show that perceived privacy concerns influence perceived value and that intention to use is significantly influenced by hedonic motivation and perceived value.     

The double-edged effects of data privacy practices on customer responses

Requesting personal information in frontline service encounters raises privacy concerns among customers. The proximity contact tracing that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic provides an intriguing context of information requests. Hospitality venues required contact tracing details from customers, and customer cooperation varied with concerns about privacy. Drawing on gossip theory, we investigate the roles of businesses’ data privacy practices and government support in driving customers’ responses to contact tracing. Our findings show that perceived transparency of a business’s privacy practices has a positive effect on customers’ commitment to the business, while perceived control exerts a negative effect on commitment. These effects are mediated by customers’ information falsification rather than disclosure, because the former is a sensitive behavioral indicator of privacy concerns. The results also reveal the moderating roles of government support. This research contributes to the customer data privacy literature by demonstrating the distinct effects of perceived transparency and control on commitment and revealing the underlying mechanism. Moreover, the research extends the conceptual understanding of privacy practices from online contexts to face-to-face contexts of frontline service. The findings offer implications for the management of customer data privacy.     

移动APP用户隐私信息设置行为影响因素及其组态效应研究

【目的/意义】在APP隐私泄露问题日趋严峻的环境下,移动应用提供的隐私设置功能为用户保护自身的隐 私信息提供了一种重要的途径,了解哪些因素会影响以及如何影响移动应用APP用户的隐私设置行为,有利于加 强用户个人隐私保护和改进隐私设置功能。【方法/过程】本研究基于保护动机理论与社会认知理论的基本思想,提 出七个条件变量并采用问卷调查法搜集数据,然后使用模糊集定性比较分析法对条件变量与用户隐私设置行为结 果变量之间的多元因果路径进行分析。【结果/结论】用户主体因素（感知风险、感知隐私控制、隐私关注和行为效 益）是用户隐私设置行为产生的必要条件;同时,用户隐私设置行为的条件组合路径包括了政策保障缺失型和隐私 泄露负面经历驱动型等五条不同路径。【创新/局限】研究问题和研究思路具有一定创新性,例如关注移动APP用户 隐私信息设置行为及其多元因果路径关系,但是也存在着研究变量数量较少,样本抽样方法值得改进等不足。     

APCO框架下微信用户使用动机、隐私关注与隐私行为之间关系研究

[目的/意义]用户的微信使用行为,涉及使用动机、隐私关注和隐私行为三个问题,研究目的在于探讨三者之间的关系。[方法/过程]以隐私关注为中介变量,使用动机为前因变量,隐私行为为结果变量,构建用户使用微信的APCO模型,设计量表,测度微信用户对这三个变量的认知,进行相关性分析与回归分析,探讨三者之间的联系。[结果/结论]结果表明,使用动机与隐私关注整体上相关性较弱,但其中的关系保持和信息搜寻动机对隐私关注存在正向影响;隐私关注对隐私行为中的隐私保护存在正向影响,但在使用动机与自我披露之间的中介作用并不显著;使用动机中的关系建立对隐私行为中的自我披露具有显著正向作用。     

ICT环境下个体隐私感知与保护行为研究

信息通讯技术(ICT)的迅速发展使得人们可以通过微博、即时通信软件(IM)、手机终端应用及社交网络(SNS)来发布个人真实信息,网络将以往零散的碎片信息整合成完整的个体信息,造成隐私泄露现象日益严重。本文总结了个体隐私泄露的渠道和类别,通过访谈研究,分析了个体隐私感知风险以及个体隐私保护行为特征:个体特征差异(受教育水平、网络经验)导致隐私关注差异;信息关联及商业价值在不同程度上与隐私关注的变化相关;隐私关注对感知隐私风险产生影响;个体隐私保护行为(常规保护、技术保护)因隐私风险感知不同而发生变化。在此基础上,构建了个体隐私感知与保护行为模型。     

基于隐私视角的LBS用户使用意向研究

随着LBS在全球范围内的快速发展,LBS用户使用意向的影响因素及用户认知过程引发了相关领域学者的广泛重视。然而,以往研究缺乏对其中个人隐私问题的有效关注。本研究以公平理论和价值接受模型为理论基础,从个人隐私信息视角出发,探索LBS特性对用户使用意向的作用机制,构建LBS用户使用意向的认知过程模型,并利用264份有效问卷对研究模型进行实证检验。研究发现,首先,LBS平台的个性化和互动促进特征对用户的感知有用性和感知娱乐性都有正向提升作用;其次,互动促进会增加用户的隐私关注,而隐私政策会减少用户的隐私关注;最后,用户的感知有用性和感知娱乐性正向提升其感知价值,进而增加LBS使用意向,而用户的隐私关注会降低其感知价值,进而降低用户的使用意向。     

A meta-analysis to explore privacy cognition and information disclosure of internet users

Based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), this study identifies the differences between perceived privacy risks and privacy concern. Furthermore, the study analyses how perceived privacy risks and privacy concerns affect the disclosure intention and the actual information disclosure behavior of Internet users. In addition, the study discusses the moderating effects of platform types, from the perspective of privacy elaboration likelihood. By applying meta-analyses and SEM on 104 independent studies with 42,256 samples from existing empirical studies, we attempt to systematically reveal the relationship between privacy cognition and information disclosure. The results show that perceived privacy risks can significantly reduce personal information disclosure intention, as well as actual information disclosure behavior. However, privacy concerns only affect disclosure intention, but do not have a significant effect on actual information disclosure behavior. The study also verified that platform types have moderating effects on the privacy decision making of Internet users. The findings yield important and useful implications, both for research and for practice.     

Assessing the effects of consumers’ product evaluations and trust on repurchase intention in e-commerce environments

This study enhances the existing literature on online trust by integrating the consumers’ product evaluations model and technology adoption model in e-commerce environments. In this study, we investigate how perceived value influences the perceptions of online trust among online buyers and their willingness to repurchase from the same website. This study proposes a research model that compares the relative importance of perceived value and online trust to perceived usefulness in influencing consumers’ repurchase intention. The proposed model is tested using data collected from online consumers of e-commerce. The findings show that although trust and e-commerce adoption components are critical in influencing repurchase intention, product evaluation factors are also important in determining repurchase intention. Perceived quality is influenced by the perceptions of competitive price and website reputation, which in turn influences perceived value; and perceived value, website reputation, and perceived risk influence online trust, which in turn influence repurchase intention. The findings also indicate that the effect of perceived usefulness on repurchase intention is not significant whereas perceived value and online trust are the major determinants of repurchase intention. Major theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.     

Captive But Mobile: Privacy Concerns and Remedies for the Mobile Environment

We use the legal framework of captive audience to examine the Federal Trade Commission 2012 privacy guidelines as applied to mobile marketing. We define captive audiences as audiences without functional opt-out mechanisms to avoid situations of coercive communication. By analyzing the current mobile marketing ecosystem, we show that the Federal Trade Commission's privacy guidelines inspired by the Canadian “privacy by design” paradigm fall short of protecting consumers against invasive mobile marketing in at least three respects: (a) The guidelines overlook how, in the context of data monopolies, the combination of location and personal history data threatens autonomy of choice; (b) the guidelines focus exclusively on user control over data sharing, while ignoring control over communicative interaction; and (c) the reliance on market mechanisms to produce improved privacy policies may actually increase opt-out costs for consumers. We conclude by discussing two concrete proposals for improvement: a “home mode” for mobile privacy and target-specific privacy contract negotiation.     

A Comprehensive Theoretical Framework for Personal Information-Related Behaviors on the Internet

Although there is near consensus on the need for privacy, the reality is that people's attitude toward their personal information privacy is complex. For instance, even when people claim that they value their information privacy, they often trade their personal information for tangible or intangible benefits. In this article, the research on different ways in which people respond to risks to privacy is examined. They include information seeking to reduce uncertainty, the withholding of information, and the provision of fabricated information. The impact of trust and inducements on Internet users’ willingness to share personal information is also examined. Thereafter, important postulates from theories in communication, social psychology, and sociology are synthesized into a comprehensive theoretical framework for personal information-related behaviors in the online environment.     

荷兰开放政府数据的隐私风险控制研究

[研究目的]从隐私风险防控的角度,调查荷兰政府开放数据的隐私保护实践,为我国政府开放数据和隐私保护提供参考。[研究方法]利用文献调研和案例分析的研究方法,以荷兰为例,获取一手资料阐述荷兰政府开放数据中隐私风险防控的经验,对政府开放数据中个人隐私保护政策法规、隐私风险应对的数据处理规范与机构进行分析和概括。[研究结论]荷兰开放政府数据的隐私风险控制的优势在于,注重数据存储安全、关注数据聚合、个人数据保护制度比较灵活、强化国际合作;劣势在于,隐私保护政策缺乏更新、政府数据收费政策模糊、没有任命国家首席数据官、内政和王国关系部承担的决策和咨询责任非常少。在此基础上,提出优化个人信息保护的政策法规,确定个人数据处理原则,完善个人数据处理机构。     

Examining m-coupon redemption intention among consumers: A moderated moderated-mediation and conditional model

The low redemption rate of coupons presents a challenge for marketers and scholars. While numerous studies have endorsed the potential of mobile (m)-coupons, not much is known about the consumer’s intention to redeem such coupons. This study uses Value-based Adoption Model (VAM) to explain the redemption intention of m-coupons among coupon redeemers. Apart from studying coupon proneness and perceived convenience, this study empirically examined perceived privacy risk (PPR) (first moderator) and repeat usage behavior (second moderator) for m-coupon redemption intention. One of the key findings from 637 m-coupon users suggest that high repeat usage behavior of m-coupon redemption diminishes the influence of PPR. This suggest that marketers should offer a seamless end to end customer journey to increase m-coupon redemption. The other managerial implications have also been highlighted in the study.     

Effects of gender congruity in human-robot service interactions: The moderating role of masculinity

Despite humanoid service robots having attracted considerable research attention, it remains unclear how consumers respond to some specific human characteristics of robots. Drawing from theories on social categorization and identification, we study the role of consumer perceived control as a psychological mechanism to explain how human-robot gender congruity alters consumers’ affective reactions (feelings of comfort in the service encounter and service brand attitudes). We also consider that such gender congruity effects may be contingent on the individual cultural value of masculinity. We demonstrate experimentally that human-robot gender congruity (vs. incongruity) elicits more positive affect, while masculinity moderates some of these effects. Moreover, perceived control mediates effects of gender congruity on affective reactions only for consumers high on masculinity. We offer three major theoretical contributions as we 1) focus on social identity theory to shed light on how human-robot gender congruity affects consumer behavior in service encounters, 2) demonstrate the role of perceptions of control as a psychological process variable to explain these effects, and 3) provide insights into the role of the cultural value of masculinity as a factor that shapes human-robot gender congruity effects.     

泄露他人隐私行为意向的影响要素研究

互联网的发展为人们的生活带来巨大便利,但也带来了隐私安全隐患,通过互联网渠道泄露他人隐私的现象已经引起社会的高度关注。基于犯罪学领域的中和技术理论,分析了否认责任、否认伤害、否认受害者、更高层次效忠、避免更多的伤害和隐私意识对泄露他人隐私行为发生意向的影响,构建了互联网环境下泄露他人隐私意向的研究模型。以人肉搜索这一典型例子进行场景设计,通过问卷调查,收集759份有效问卷,采用Smart PLS2.0软件进行结构方程检验。实证结果表明否认责任、否认受害者和避免更多伤害三类中和技术正向影响泄露他人隐私行为的意向,否认伤害和更高层次效忠技术对泄露他人隐私意向没有显著影响。另外,增强个人隐私意识能有效削弱泄露他人隐私行为的意向。本研究结果有助于了解隐私泄露者的行为动机,为规范互联网用户上网行径和制定隐私保护政策提供借鉴。     

Barriers to Interorganizational Information Sharing in e-Government: A Stakeholder Analysis

Government agencies often face trade-offs in developing initiatives that address a public good given competing concerns of various constituent groups. Efforts to construct data warehouses that enable data mining of citizens’ personal information obtained from other organizations (including sister agencies) create a complex challenge, since privacy concerns may vary across constituent groups whose priorities diverge from agencies’ e-government goals. In addition to privacy concerns, participating government agencies’ priorities related to the use of the information may also be in conflict. This article reports on a case study of the Integrated Non-Filer Compliance System used by the California Franchise Tax Board for which data are collected from federal, state, and municipal agencies and other organizations in a data mining application that aims to identify residents who under-report income or fail to file tax returns. This system pitted the public good (ensuring owed taxes are paid) against citizen concerns about privacy. Drawing on stakeholder theory, the authors propose a typology of four stakeholder groups (data controllers, data subjects, data providers, and secondary stakeholders) to address privacy concerns and argue that by ensuring procedural fairness for the data subjects, agencies can reduce some barriers that impede the successful adoption of e-government applications and policies. The article concludes that data controllers can reduce adoption and implementation barriers when e-government data mining applications rely on data shared across organizational boundaries: identify legitimate stakeholders and their concerns prior to implementation; enact procedures to ensure procedural fairness when data are captured, shared, and used; explain to each constituency how the data mining application helps to ensure distributive fairness; and continue to gauge stakeholders’ responses and ongoing concerns as long as the application is in use.     

隐私视角下健康类APP用户流失意愿研究

[目的/意义] 本文从隐私视角出发,研究影响健康类APP用户流失意愿的因素,为健康类APP服务提供商增强用户粘性、提升服务效果等提供参考依据。[方法/过程] 对24名有健康类APP使用经验的用户进行访谈,运用扎根理论法对访谈材料进行编码分析,构建隐私视角下健康类APP用户流失意愿理论模型。[结果/讨论] 用户个体、隐私关注、社会环境和隐私计算结果直接影响用户流失意愿;社会环境还通过影响用户个体、隐私关注与流失意愿间关系的强度影响用户流失意愿,与用户流失意愿呈中介关系。