Privacy Cynicism : An Approach to Understanding the Institutional Privacy Paradox

Abstract

Previous research on online privacy has identified a disparity between Internet users' privacy concerns and actual privacy protection behavior. Given the distinction between social and institutional privacy concerns, this "privacy paradox" appears especially pronounced in the context of institutional privacy threats. A number of studies attempt to explain the privacy paradox based on either user trust, lack of risk awareness or the privacy calculus thesis. In this study, we argue that none of these approaches satisfactorily explain the institutional privacy paradox. Instead, we propose that users faced with institutional privacy threats may develop an attitude we term privacy cynicism. Privacy cynicism serves as a cognitive coping mechanism allowing users to take advantage of online services despite privacy concerns. Based on focus groups conducted among German Internet users and an initial explorative student survey, we define the privacy paradox construct and propose an initial measurement instrument.