The Role of Privacy in the Acceptance of Smart Technologies: Applying the Privacy Calculus to Technology Acceptance

ABSTRACT

The ongoing digitization and novel smart technologies can deliver enormous benefits to society and individuals. However, smart services often require the vast collection of data conflicting with users’ privacy. The integration of privacy concerns into acceptance research is needed to portray and predict user decisions in smart technologies. To allow a privacy-integrated prediction of users’ technology acceptance, we apply the privacy calculus theory to adoption behavior. We test the new model in three usage contexts, autonomous driving (transportation), activity trackers (fitness), and cardiac device remote monitoring (medical treatment). Using an online questionnaire, 624 German participants evaluated all three technologies. The model fits well in all contexts, although also context-related differences in the weighing of perceived benefits and privacy concerns showed. It is concluded that the trade-off between perceived benefits and privacy concerns is a central keystone not only for the willingness to disclose information but also for technology acceptance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the German Ministry of Education and Research [Project MyneData, no. KIS1DSD045].

Notes on contributors

Eva-Maria Schomakers

Eva-Maria Schomakers is a PhD student and works as scientific assistant at the Human-Computer Interaction Center at RWTH Aachen University. She finished her studies of Technical Communication with Mechanical Engineering at the RWTH Aachen University in 2015. Her research is focused on online privacy, the acceptance of ehealth technologies as well as new mobility services from a user perspective

Chantal Lidynia

Chantal Lidynia is a researcher at the Human-Computer Interaction Center (HCIC) at RWTH Aachen University, Germany. Her main area of interest is the interaction with activity trackers and fitness apps. Other areas of her work lie in the fields of privacy research and smart mobility

Martina Ziefle

Martina Ziefle is a psychologist, full professor, and chair of Communication Science at RWTH Aachen University. Her research is concerned with human interaction and communication of humans with technology addressing the human factor in different technology types and using contexts, focusing on technology acceptance and risk perception.