Addressing End-User Privacy Concerns

Organizations engaged in electronic transactions have a social, and often legal, responsibility to adopt and disclose a policy for protecting customer information. Guidelines for establishing an organizational privacy policy frequently emphasize the inclusion of the fair information practice (FIP) principles that were established in 1973. The increasingly diverse population of Internet users suggests that a different approach to privacy policies may be required. Understanding users’ privacy expectations can improve the creation of effective privacy policies and practices. In this paper, we examine which aspects of the FIPs address, or do not address, consumers’ fundamental privacy expectations. This exploration is based on a survey of over 1,000 Internet users having a diverse range of Internet experience. We also explore the different views held by novice Web users and experienced Web users, and relate this relationship to privacy policy development.