Factors Influencing User’s Attitude to Secondary Information Sharing and Usage

Abstract

The increasing availability of enormous data about users online, along with availability of sophisticated tools and technology to store, aggregate, and analyze data for secondary use has raised concerns about how to balance the opportunity for secondary use of data with the need to protect the user privacy that may result from harmful use. To develop a privacy protection mechanism that is useful and meets the expectations and needs of the user, it is important to understand user’s attitude to privacy and secondary information sharing and usage of his/her data. While several studies have investigated factors influencing user’s attitude to privacy in primary data collection context, none of the existing studies have provided an understanding of user perception and attitude to privacy in secondary context. To fill this gap, this work has identified five factors that are important in a secondary usage context and carried out a study on their influence on user’s perception with respect to how their data is shared for secondary use. The main contribution of this paper is an understanding of factors influencing user decisions about privacy in secondary context, which can assist both technology designers and policy makers in the development of appropriate privacy protection that meets the needs and expectations of the user.