Privacy, trust, and disclosure online

Introduction The use of new technology, and particularly the Internet, increasingly requires people to disclose personal information online for various reasons. In computer-mediated communication (CMC), disclosure may serve to reduce uncertainty in an interaction (Tidwell & Walther, 2002) or to establish legitimacy when joining an online group (Galegher, Sproull, & Kiesler, 1998). Disclosure is often a prerequisite to access services (for instance, with the ubiquitous registration form), to make online purchases (Metzger, 2006) or is requested for those same services to be personalized. The increasingly social nature of much web-based software (e.g., social network sites) also places a privacy cost on users due to a heightened requirement for disclosure of personal information as part of the functionality of the system (see BBC News). In addition to this increased need for disclosure, the development of ambient and ubiquitous technologies has raised the possibility that devices will communicate, or even broadcast, personal information without recourse to the user. Moreover, the ability to store information easily and cross-reference databases raises the possibility of unwitting disclosure through information accrual. Perhaps not surprisingly, this has raised a number of privacy concerns, among consumers and privacy advocates (e.g., Jupiter Research, 2002; U.K. Information Commissioner, 2006). We start this chapter by introducing the existing research literature surrounding privacy and trust online. We then go on to consider how privacy and trust interact in determining online behavior.