A multinational study on online privacy: global concerns and local responses

Abstract

This study surveyed 1261 internet users from five cities (Bangalore, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney and New York) to examine multinational internet users' perceptions and behavioural responses concerning online privacy. It identified a set of individual-level (demographics and internet-related experiences) and macro-level factors (nationality and national culture), and tested the extent to which they affected online privacy concerns and privacy protection behaviours. The results showed that individual differences (age, gender and internet experience), nationality and national culture significantly influenced internet users' privacy concerns to the extent that older, female internet users from an individualistic culture were more concerned about online privacy than their counterparts. The study also identified three underlying dimensions of privacy protection behaviour — avoidance, opt-out and proactive protection — and found that they distinctly related to the individual and macro-level factors. Overall, the findings highlight the conditional and multicultural nature of online privacy.