Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
privacy: (1) new technological capabilities, (2) an
increased value of information, and (3) confusion
over what is ethically right and wrong.
Research in the information systems area
on privacy has focused on organizational use of
collected data. Smith et al. (1996) developed an
instrument to measure an individual's concern
over an organization's information privacy prac-
tices which was later re-examined by Stewart
and Segars (2002). Their study identified four
primary dimensions of an individual's concern
of organizational information privacy practices:
collection, unauthorized secondary use, improper
access, and errors (Smith et al., 1996).
Security tools are often used as a means of
protecting an individual's privacy, and therefore
if an individual has a high perceived need for
privacy, this should have a positive impact on the
perceived usefulness of the devices. We propose
that an individual's need for privacy will positively
impact perceived usefulness.
It has been shown that an individual's percep-
tion of the importance of privacy has a positive
impact on the individual's need for security as
shown in Pirim, James, Boswell, Reithel, and
Barkhi (in press). If an individual places a high
importance on privacy, that individual will place
a high importance on securing privacy. Therefore,
it is expected that an individual's need for privacy
will positively impact the individual's perceived
need for security.
Hypothesis 9: An individual's perceived need for
privacy will have a positive effect on his/her need
for security.
Complications for the use of security tools
arise due to the fact that methods of providing
security can be viewed as invasions of privacy.
Identification and verification are the primary
means of providing security. In order to protect
assets and individuals, it is necessary to know the
identity of the individuals who are granted access
to physical locations as well as digital informa-
tion and to be able to verify that an individual
is who he/she claims to be. To accomplish this
task, a certain amount of information that may
be considered private is necessary. Privacy ad-
vocates often object to the collection of personal
information and to appease society's need for
privacy, it is necessary to collect the minimum
amount of information necessary and to protect
the information that is collected from misuse or
theft. Biometrics present an even more unique
characteristic in the collection of personal in-
formation as the data needed to implement the
devices are physiological or behavioral traits of
an individual, rather than typical data collected
to identify an individual such as a name, birth
date, or identification number.
Biometric devices may be viewed as invasions
of privacy due to the personalized physical us-
age requirements. Therefore, the more private an
individual perceives her/himself to be, the more
invasive the biometric devices may be perceived.
Hypothesis 8: An individual's perceived need for
privacy will have a positive impact on the perceived
usefulness of the technology.
Security is often tied into privacy due to the
use of security devices to protect personal infor-
mation. The protection of information considered
sensitive, especially in digital form, is a major
concern for both individuals and corporations. The
use and security of personal information released
to a secondary party is also of rising concern in
society due to the increased ability to collect and
process such information. In many cases, however,
the use of security devices raises its own set of
privacy concerns. It is often necessary to collect
data considered personal from individuals in order
to enforce user authentication to facilities and
digital information. Along with the possibility
of perceived invasion of privacy from monitoring
and surveillance security systems, the technolo-
gies themselves often give rise to privacy issues
(Kim, 1995).
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