Virtue Ethics as a Solution to the Privacy Paradox and Trust in Emerging Technologies

Abstract

Despite concerns over the collection of personal information by technologies, society's use of such has increased rapidly. This attitude is termed the privacy paradox. This research-in-progress explores the root causes of this privacy paradox, the role of personal information privacy threats on trust in emerging technologies, and the influence of unconscious decision-making (based on virtue ethics traditions) on conscious decision-making. To understand the duality and subjectivity embedded in the above issues, this study applies Q-methodology for data collection, analysis, and interpretation. The study proposes that virtue ethics is the best approach to solve such subjective issues. This study enhances our understanding, on the basis of prior literature, of the importance of virtue ethics as a solution to the privacy paradox.