Predicting individuals’ privacy protection and self-tracking behaviors in the context of smart health

Abstract

The implementation of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies faces social challenges, such as privacy and surveillance, in our so-called ‘sensor society.’ This study applies a unique theoretical framework of surveillance culture, consisting of the surveillance imaginary and surveillance practices, to comprehensively capture individual perceptions and behaviors related to privacy and surveillance in the context of smart health. We also conducted online surveys to examine the cross-national differences between South Korea and the US. Our results show that institutional trust and perceived comfort levels significantly predict individuals’ self-tracking behavior in both the US and Korean samples. Privacy concerns are significantly associated with individuals’ privacy protection behaviors for both samples. The cross-national differences between the US and South Korea are found to be statistically significant. A post-hoc analysis reveals that most differences are attributed to demographic and personal characteristics as predictors of the surveillance imaginary and surveillance practices.