Consumer privacy expectations in a virtual environment: a framework for corporate risk assessment

Abstract

The technological capabilities in a virtual environment enable a wealth of information concerning consumer characteristics and preferences to be gathered, combined and disseminated, with relative ease, during electronic commerce (e-commerce) transactions. Consumers continue to be concerned about the corporate use of personal information collected during the course of such transactions, despite government oversight. This paper examines the types of consumer information collected and the concerns associated with such practices. Consumer concerns give rise to the necessity for corporations to self-regulate by assessing the risks associated with information privacy practices. In response, we present a conceptual framework for the corporate risk assessment of consumer privacy expectations. This framework can be used by corporations to assess and explain their self-regulation of consumer internet privacy.