An exploratory paper of the privacy paradox in the age of big data and emerging technologies

Sammanfattning: Technological innovations and advancements are helping people gain an increasingly comfortable life, as well as expand their social capital through online networks by offering individual's new opportunities to share personal information. By collecting vast amounts of data a whole new range of services can be offered, information can be collected and compared, and a new level of individualization can be reached. However, with these new technical capacities comes the omnipresence of various devices gathering data, potential threats to privacy, and individuals' increasing concern over data privacy. This paper aims to shed light on the 'privacy paradox' phenomenon, the dichotomy between privacy attitude, concern, and behavior, by examining previous literature as well as using an online survey (N=463). The findings indicate that there is a difference between attitude, concern, and actual behavior. While individuals' value their data privacy and are concerned about information collected on them, few take action to protect it and actions rarely align with expressed concerns. However, the 'privacy paradox' is a complex phenomenon and it requires further research, especially with the implications of a data driven society and when introducing emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things.