Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
The reliability and protection of data has long
been an issue. Physical protection of data and the
reduction of data errors have been compounded
by the increased reliance on networks which
frequently introduce new information security
threats on top of the traditional ones. Threats
to information security include accidental and
intentional entry of bad data, accidental and
intentional destruction of data, unauthorized ac-
cess to data, inadequate control over media, poor
control over manual I/O, access to data or systems
by outsiders (both hackers and competitors),
computer viruses/worms, weak or inadequate
physical control, and natural disasters (i.e., fire,
flood, power loss) (Loch et al., 1992). Develop-
ment and adoption of new technologies to attempt
to prevent and detect new types of information
security breaches are extremely important in
today's computing environment and the topic of
much research.
There has been a lack of research to study an
individual's perception of the importance of or
need for security. Behavioral studies have focused
on security awareness in information security (Si-
ponen, 2000) or organizational security practices
(Straub, 1990). However, of increasing importance
is an individual's perception of the importance of
securing their physical assets and digital informa-
tion as this may impact their perception of the
importance of security devices and thereby influ-
ence their usage behavior. As biometric devices
by design are targeted towards securing digital
and physical assets, an individual's perceived
need for security should influence the perception
of usefulness of the device. If an individual has
a high perceived need for security, the perceived
usefulness of a security tool to protect themselves
as well as their assets should increase. This leads
us to the following hypothesis:
Although the requirements for use of biometric
technologies may be perceived as more invasive
than traditional security technologies, a high
perceived need for security may counteract the
perception of invasiveness and therefore have a
negative impact on the perceived physical inva-
siveness of biometrics. If an individual places
major importance on their security and/or the
security of their assets, the physicality of using
the biometrics may be perceived as less of a factor
than otherwise.
Hypothesis 7: An individual's desire for the secu-
rity of his/her person and personal information
will have a negative impact on the perceived
invasiveness of the technology.
privacy
Privacy refers to the ability of an individual to
“control the terms under which personal informa-
tion is acquired and used” (Westin, 1967, p. 7).
Information privacy has been defined as, “the
ability of the individual to personally control
information about one's self” (as quoted in Smith,
Milberg, & Burke, 1996, p. 168). For the current
study, perceived need for privacy will be defined
as the importance to an individual of being able
to control the acquisition and usage of personal
information.
The reliance on the collection and use of data
in today's technology dependent society has
increased privacy concerns. Hence, privacy has
been listed as one of the biggest ethical issues
of the information age (Mason, 1986). Mason
argues that there exist two major threats to an
individual's right to privacy: an increased ability
to collect data due to the growth of information
technology in areas such as surveillance, com-
munication, computation, storage, and retrieval
and an increase in the value of this information for
decision making (Mason, 1986). Henderson and
Snyder (1999) describe three major forces driv-
ing an increased focus on personal information
Hypothesis 6: An individual's desire for the
security of his/her person and personal informa-
tion will have a positive impact on the perceived
usefulness of the technology.
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