Alfred Kobsa touched on many issues concern privacy on the internet. Society wants more personalization but what amount of privacy are they willing to give up to receive it? The internet already knows more information about people then the average person expects. The privacy theory compares the potential risk of releasing personal information to the benefits of releasing it. Privacy fundamentalist, privacy unconcerned and privacy pragmatics are the three attitudes towards privacy but the predictive value of these can be low.
Studies have shown that 80% of internet users would like personalization and typically value the personalized experience. Internet users are more willing to disclose demographic, personal tastes, hobbies and lifestyle information. People tend to become uneasy when the internet request information concerning financials, credit cards, or contact information. I know that I hate putting in my email address to do something online and then constantly getting spam emails after. I think it is important that internet users are aware of where their information is going or being used. Many privacy surveys shows that internet users also find that important. Trusting websites today can be hard for people. Positive experience, design, reputation of the website, presence of a privacy statement, and a privacy seal are all reinforcements of trust to internet users.
One question I have is concerning the future of personalization and privacy. At what cost will organizations go to make personalization more advanced and privacy even more obsolete? Now you only have to put information in once, I know online shopping most places save my credit card for the next time I return. My trust in that has declined. I have had my credit card number stolen and my checking account drained from shopping online. What is making people stay? Will this only get worse? Today privacy on the internet is almost not a thing. How much worse can it get?
Yours is great and to the point. I agree with everything you have said. I refuse to save my creditcard. I will physically decline or delete it. That's why I opened a paypal- you don't have to have a card you can just upload money purchased from a walmart card. A tad bit safer.
ReplyDelete