Abstract

The rise of the Internet and, specifically, the use of social network systems have seen privacy come to the forefront of concern for end-users. One way in which this privacy problem has manifested itself is the privacy paradox; where users concerns do not match their actual behaviour. Research has pointed to a lack of awareness and comprehension as a cause of this paradox and others like it and have recommended improving awareness as a potential solution. However, without knowing the direct, observable causes of the paradox formulating a solution which improves awareness is difficult as it will be based on assumption. As such, this paper proposes the Theory of Planned Behaviour as a sufficiently falsifiable theory to provide a means of exploring the causes of observed paradoxes and as a guide to implementing solutions. The TPB identifies the factors which inform behavioural action as well as a control factor that informs the intention (how easy it is perceived to perform the behaviour) and effects the actual outcome (is it actually easy?). Through an examination of users it is possible to identify which factor is lacking when the paradox is observed; in short the paradox can be robustly explained. Furthermore, this paper proposes that a framework for user interface design can efficiently be modelled around the TPB in order to produce Information Systems which facilitate the desired behaviour of the user in question effectively improving awareness and working towards a solution to observed paradoxes.

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