Privacy Maintenance in Self-Digitization

Abstract

Individuals are increasingly using personal Internet of Things (IoT) devices that digitize their day-to-day lives. Those devices, however, often require substantial personal information to generate their intended benefits. For example, fitness technologies collect health, sleep, personal, and a vast array of other information ubiquitously, creating possible privacy issues for the users when fitness technology platform providers store or share their information, whether users know this or not. To explore the role of privacy perceptions in the context of continued use of fitness technologies, this study collected data from 212 fitness tracker users. We find empirical support for the importance of privacy perceptions in a user's intention to continue to use their fitness tracker. More specifically, consistent with privacy calculus research, privacy concern is negatively related to willingness to disclose information while perceived benefit is positively related to it. As an extension to calculus variables, users' expectations towards the data sharing practices of organizations also influences their willingness to disclose information. Importantly, willingness to disclose information has a direct effect on continued use intentions but also moderates the relationship between perceived benefit and users' intentions to continue using a fitness tracker. We discuss the implications of these findings for research and practice.