Privacy as a secondary goal problem: an experiment examining control

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on results of an investigation into the impact of adding privacy salient information (defined through the theory of planned behaviour) into the user interface (UI) of a faux social network. Design/methodology/approach – Participants were asked to create their profiles on a new social network specifically for Nottingham Trent University students by answering a series of questions that vary in the sensitivity of personal information requested. A treatment is designed that allows participants to review their answers and make amendments based on suggestions from the treatment. A dynamic privacy score that improves as amendments are made is designed to encourage privacy-oriented behaviour. Results from the treatment group are compared to a control group. Findings – Participants within the treatment group disclosed less than those in the control with statistical significance. The more sensitive questions in particular were answered less when compared to the control, suggesting that participants were making more privacy-conscious decisions. Practical implications – Work within this paper suggests that simple UI changes can promote more privacy-conscious behaviour. These simple changes could provide a low-cost method to ensuring the Internet safety of a wide range of users. Originality/value – This study provides a clear definition of privacy salient UI mechanisms based on a well-established theory of behaviour and examines their potential effect on end-users through a novel experiment. Results and methods from this work can enable researchers to better understand privacy behaviour.