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This study examines how the different dimensions of a privacy policy separately influence perceived effectiveness of privacy policy, as well as the mediating mechanisms behind these effects (i.e. vulnerability, benevolence). In addition, this study considers privacy concern as a significant moderator in the research model, to examine if the relative influences of privacy policy content are contingent upon levels of users' privacy concern.

The survey experiment was conducted to empirically validate the model. Specifically, three survey experiments and six scenarios were designed to manipulate high and low levels of the three privacy policy dimensions (i.e. transparency, control and protection). The authors totally distributed 450 copies of the questionnaire, of which 407 were valid.

This paper found that (1) all the three privacy policy dimensions directly influence perceived effectiveness of privacy policy; (2) all the three privacy policy dimensions indirectly influence perceived effectiveness of privacy policy by enhancing perceived corporate benevolence, whereas control also affects perceived effectiveness of privacy policy by reducing perceived vulnerability; and (3) individuals with high-privacy concern are much more impacted by privacy policy contents than individuals with low-privacy concern.

The findings could provide website managers with guidelines on how to design privacy policy contents by reducing user perceptions of vulnerability and enhancing user perceptions of corporate benevolence. The managers need to focus on customers' perceived vulnerability and corporate benevolence when launching or updating privacy policies. Furthermore, the managers also need to attend to users' privacy concerns, especially for multinational companies or companies with specific consumer groups.

This study extends the current privacy policy literature by articulating the separate influences of the three privacy policy dimensions and their impact mechanisms on perceived effectiveness of privacy policy. It also uncovers privacy concerns as a boundary condition that influence the effects of privacy policy contents on users' privacy perceptions.

Building on past studies of library privacy policies, this review looks at how privacy information is shared at universities and colleges in the state of Florida. Beyond the question of whether a library-specific privacy policy exists, this review evaluates what is covered in the policies – whether topics such as how student data is stored, retained, de-identified and disposed of are broached in the statements, and whether specific data sets covering instruction, reference and surveillance are mentioned. The purpose of this study is to open the door to directed exploration into student awareness of privacy policies and spark conversation about positionality of libraries regarding privacy.

This review was done using a cross-sectional study design through observation of public-facing library privacy policies of higher education institutions in Florida.

Findings include that the majority of Florida academic libraries do not have a public-facing privacy policy. Only 15 out of the 70 schools reviewed had one. A large portion of those came from doctoral universities with associate’s colleges having none, and baccalaureate/associate’s colleges having only two. The policies that were in place tended to be institution-centered rather than patron-centered. Most categories of listed data collected were in the area of collections, website or computer usage.

The value of this review is that it adds to the literature studying privacy policies in academic libraries. Going forward, this research could address statewide practice in privacy policies as well as helping to lay pathways for working with students and other library patrons to gauge their interests and concerns about privacy.

Although personal information privacy concerns have been around for years, the introduction of E‐commerce and its associated technologies presents privacy concerns anew. The Fortune 500 represents traditional leadership in the use of technologies and business practices. This preliminary study examines Web sites of the Fortune 500 and shows that slightly more than 50 percent of Fortune 500 Web sites provide privacy policies on their home pages. Comprehensive privacy policies to address all privacy dimensions recommended by the FTC are less common.

The lack of trust in online transactions is one of the main reasons for the relatively low electronic commerce adoption, especially in developing and emerging economies such as those of the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

The author conducts a content analysis of the privacy policies and security mechanisms of a sample of companies from the six countries of the GCC which are engaged in electronic commerce transactions.

It is found that a large percentage of sites with privacy statements address the issue of notice and awareness, while none of the sites has a provision to inform users in case of any complaint, as to whom they should address their complaint, what is the arbitration and settlement methods, who is the enforcement body and finally what are the penalties and sanctions applicable.

The paper has a number of value adding characteristics; first, it attacks a subject that has been close to being ignored in the literature, that is the issue of electronic commerce in developing economies; second, the paper is unique in that it addresses the use of electronic commerce in the six countries of the GCC (the author knows of no other study done on the region); and, third, the paper concludes with a set of recommendations to policy makers in the GCC, to help them increase consumer trust in online transactions and increase the rat of electronic commerce diffusion in their economies.

In order to provide customers with a sense of security regarding the protection of their personal data, companies sign on to a “seal” programme, where rules designed by the seal issuer in accordance to underlying laws must be adhered to. A user can verify online that a specific organisation adheres to a published privacy policy. This paper argues that the verifications means these programmes use are vulnerable to DNS spoofing attacks and present a privacy policy verification (“seal”) scheme, which is not vulnerable to attack. It is also argued that there are disadvantages in operating seal schemes that attempt to publicly certify compliance levels with a self‐regulatory privacy protection model. On the contrary, these disadvantages are softened when used in a regulatory model that has adopted comprehensive laws to ensure privacy protection.

The purpose of this paper is to advocate for and provide guidance for the development of a code of ethical conduct surrounding online privacy policies, including those concerning data mining. The hope is that this research generates thoughtful discussion on the issue of how to make data mining more effective for the business stakeholder while at the same time making it a process done in an ethical way that remains effective for the consumer. The recognition of the privacy rights of data mining subjects is paramount within this discussion.

The authors derive foundational principles for ethical data mining. First, philosophical literature on moral principles is used as the theoretical foundation. Then, using existing frameworks, including legislation and regulations from a range of jurisdictions, a compilation of foundational principles was derived. This compilation was then evaluated and honed through the integration of stakeholder perspective and the assimilation of moral and philosophical precepts. Evaluating a sample of privacy policies hints that current practice does not meet the proposed principles, indicating a need for changes in the way data mining is performed.

A comprehensive framework for the development a contemporary code of conduct and proposed ethical practices for online data mining was constructed.

This paper provides a configuration upon which a code of ethical conduct for performing data mining, tailored to meet the particular needs of any organization, can be designed.

The implications of data mining, and a code of ethical conduct regulating it, are far-reaching. Implementation of such principles serve to improve consumer and stakeholder confidence, ensure the enduring compliance of data providers and the integrity of its collectors, and foster confidence in the security of data mining.

Existing legal mandates alone are insufficient to properly regulate data mining, therefore supplemental reference to ethical considerations and stakeholder interest is required. The adoption of a functional code of general application is essential to address the increasing proliferation of apprehension regarding online privacy.

Protection motivation theory (PMT) explains that the intention to cope with information security risks is based on informed threat and coping appraisals. However, people cannot always make appropriate assessments due to possible ignorance and cognitive biases. This study proposes a research model that introduces four antecedent factors from ignorance and bias perspectives into the PMT model and empirically tests this model with data from a survey of electronic waste (e-waste) handling.

The data collected from 356 Chinese samples are analyzed via structural equation modeling (SEM).

The results revealed that for threat appraisal, optimistic bias leads to a lower perception of risks. However, factual ignorance (lack of knowledge of risks) does not significantly affect the perceived threat. For coping appraisal, practical ignorance (lack of knowledge of coping with risks) leads to low response efficacy and self-efficacy and high perceptions of coping cost, but the illusion of control overestimates response efficacy and self-efficacy.

First, this study addresses a new type of information security problem in e-waste handling. Second, this study extends the PMT model by exploring the roles of ignorance and bias as antecedents. Finally, the authors reinvestigate the basic constructs of PMT to identify how rational threat and coping assessments affect user intentions to cope with data security risks.

This study aimed to determine the antecedents of privacy concerns and their impact on consumers' online information disclosure. It also investigated the moderating role of government regulation on the relationship between privacy concerns and online information disclosure.

With the help of literature review and theories, a theoretical model was developed and then validated using the partial least squares structural equation modeling technique to analyze data from 309 respondents.

The study found that online users' privacy awareness, privacy experience, personality and cultural differences significantly and positively impact their privacy concerns, which in turn positively and significantly influence their online information disclosure. The study also found that government regulation has a significant impact on online information disclosure.

The study is cross-sectional in nature and cannot be generalized, and therefore, a longitudinal study could be conducted. Also, the study identified four antecedents of online users' privacy concerns. More antecedents and more sample data with other boundary conditions could have increased the predictive power of the model.

This study will help practitioners to better understand the privacy concerns of online users, which could help them to develop better products and enhance service quality. Policymakers can develop regulations as per the online users' requirements to increase their confidence in disclosing personal information online and other online activities.

Few studies have dealt with online users' information disclosure and their privacy concerns or the moderating role of government regulations on online information disclosure. The study is unique as its proposed model is the first that accounts for both online users' privacy concerns and government regulation and their online information disclosure.

The research aims to establish the predictors of the acceptance of technical and organizational measures for the protection of personal data to ensure information privacy in Croatian libraries, starting from the constructs of the APCO Macro Model.

Two data collection methods were used: the online survey questionnaire method and the analysis of the websites of independent libraries in the Republic of Croatia.

The results show that the acceptance of measures for personal data protection by a library manager is mostly influenced by perceived knowledge, while culture and trust have a positive correlation of moderate strength. Awareness has a low positive correlation, and privacy experience is not statistically related to the acceptance of measures. There is no statistically significant difference in the acceptance of measures for the protection of personal data concerning age and work experience in the profession. There is a statistically significant correlation between compliance with the principle of transparency and the size of the library.

The study is valuable as it examined the characteristics of the culture of information privacy in libraries and determined the existence and impact of factors that influence ensuring the information privacy of users in Croatian libraries.