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User Choice, Privacy Sensitivity, and Acceptance of Personal Information Collection

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European Data Protection: Coming of Age

Abstract

One issue in mobile privacy is that most mobile applications do not provide accessible disclosures and opportunities for meaningful consent. While such capabilities could increase user satisfaction with applications’ privacy protections, they might also produce greater rejection of data collection. The current study investigated these issues using a mobile application that provided simplified disclosures and some user choice in data collection. Results showed that having such choice tended to increase satisfaction with privacy-relevant aspects of the application. Furthermore, when asked to rate the application if it collected various types of information, subjects who reported taking more privacy risks and trusting authorities to protect their privacy tended to give higher ratings when the information collected was both highly relevant and sensitive, or of low relevance and sensitivity. The results suggest that companies might garner greater acceptance of data collection if they understand consumers’ privacy sensitivities and reactions to data collection requests.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Motorola Mobility, Applied Research Center, Libertyville, IL, USA

    Joshua B. Hurwitz

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  1. Joshua B. Hurwitz
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Correspondence to Joshua B. Hurwitz .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Pleinlaan 2, Brussel, 1050, Belgium

    Serge Gutwirth

  2. , TILT, Tilburg University, Warandelaan 2, Tilburg, 5037 AB, Netherlands

    Ronald Leenes

  3. , LSTS, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Avenue de la Plaine 2, Brussels, 1050, Belgium

    Paul de Hert

  4. Research Centre for Information, Technology & Law, University of Namur, Rempart de la Vierge 5, Namur, 5000, Belgium

    Yves Poullet

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Hurwitz, J.B. (2013). User Choice, Privacy Sensitivity, and Acceptance of Personal Information Collection. In: Gutwirth, S., Leenes, R., de Hert, P., Poullet, Y. (eds) European Data Protection: Coming of Age. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5170-5_13

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