Should I Disclose My Personal Data? Perspectives From Internet of Things Services

Abstract

This work proposes a theoretical framework for explaining the end users' willingness to disclose their personal information to the IoT service providers, despite the known privacy risks. The Communication Privacy Management Theory and Privacy Trust Behavioral Intention Model are used as the backbone for the presented framework. The model is empirically validated by collecting data from 924 participants residing in Thailand and Singapore who are active users of at least one type of IoT service: smart home, smart healthcare or smart cities. The results suggest that trust, perceived privacy risks, perceived benefits and the level of information sensitivity affect the users' willingness to disclose their personal information. Certain cultural differences are also noticed from the two different country samples. Based upon the results, the research implications are discussed, and suggestions provided.

Keywords

• Information sensitivity
• IoT services
• personal data
• privacy
• trust