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consumers are afforded little or no control over their information
(Alashoor 2014). In other contexts, a lack of perceived control can
heighten privacy concerns (Dinev and Hart 2004), whereas if perceived
control is high, individuals may be empowered to adopt technologies and
disclose more personal information (Palmatier and Martin 2019). Closely
related to control is consumers’ awareness of how their information is
protected and used in the cloud. A lack of transparency is a commonly
cited issue in the cloud context with many noting that cloud providers
should engage in transparent communications to increase consumer
awareness of how their personal data is used (Kesan et al. 2013). Awareness
not only encompasses understanding of how data is protected, but where
data is stored and how it is used.
Trust is often incorporated into privacy studies including those in the
cloud context (e.g. Nikkhah et al. 2018). Consumers’ beliefs regarding
the trustworthiness of an organisation relate to perceptions of the organisation’s benevolence, integrity and competence (van der Werff et al.
2019; Bélanger et al. 2002). In privacy contexts, trust often focuses on an
individual’s willingness to be vulnerable when transacting or sharing personal information with an organisation (McKnight et al. 2002). In the
cloud context, research supports the importance of trust in influencing
consumers’ willingness to use cloud-based mobile applications and the
relationship between privacy concern and trust (Nikkhah et al. 2018).
Central to addressing these consumer perceptions is improving organisational communications with consumers and building knowledge.
Organisation’s current communication efforts largely involve privacy policies. Currently, privacy policies tend to be quite lengthy and difficult to
read (Kelley et al. 2010). Indeed, the time to read the privacy policies of
all websites visited by an average American Internet user was estimated as
201 hours annually (McDonald and Cranor 2008). Furthermore, when
consumers read privacy policies, they often do not understand the contents (Martin 2015). These issues with readability and understandability,
as well as lack of user engagement with privacy policies, has led to calls to
develop new communication methods which better inform consumers
how their information is used (Park et al. 2012). In addition to how
organisations communicate, it is important to ensure consumers are
equipped with the privacy knowledge needed to interpret these communications. Indeed, gaps in consumers’ privacy knowledge and self-efficacy
has recently been highlighted as an important area to address in order to
empower informed decision making (Crossler and Bélanger 2017). Thus,
G. FOX
consumers are afforded little or no control over their information
(Alashoor 2014). In other contexts, a lack of perceived control can
heighten privacy concerns (Dinev and Hart 2004), whereas if perceived
control is high, individuals may be empowered to adopt technologies and
disclose more personal information (Palmatier and Martin 2019). Closely
related to control is consumers’ awareness of how their information is
protected and used in the cloud. A lack of transparency is a commonly
cited issue in the cloud context with many noting that cloud providers
should engage in transparent communications to increase consumer
awareness of how their personal data is used (Kesan et al. 2013). Awareness
not only encompasses understanding of how data is protected, but where
data is stored and how it is used.
Trust is often incorporated into privacy studies including those in the
cloud context (e.g. Nikkhah et al. 2018). Consumers’ beliefs regarding
the trustworthiness of an organisation relate to perceptions of the organisation’s benevolence, integrity and competence (van der Werff et al.
2019; Bélanger et al. 2002). In privacy contexts, trust often focuses on an
individual’s willingness to be vulnerable when transacting or sharing personal information with an organisation (McKnight et al. 2002). In the
cloud context, research supports the importance of trust in influencing
consumers’ willingness to use cloud-based mobile applications and the
relationship between privacy concern and trust (Nikkhah et al. 2018).
Central to addressing these consumer perceptions is improving organisational communications with consumers and building knowledge.
Organisation’s current communication efforts largely involve privacy policies. Currently, privacy policies tend to be quite lengthy and difficult to
read (Kelley et al. 2010). Indeed, the time to read the privacy policies of
all websites visited by an average American Internet user was estimated as
201 hours annually (McDonald and Cranor 2008). Furthermore, when
consumers read privacy policies, they often do not understand the contents (Martin 2015). These issues with readability and understandability,
as well as lack of user engagement with privacy policies, has led to calls to
develop new communication methods which better inform consumers
how their information is used (Park et al. 2012). In addition to how
organisations communicate, it is important to ensure consumers are
equipped with the privacy knowledge needed to interpret these communications. Indeed, gaps in consumers’ privacy knowledge and self-efficacy
has recently been highlighted as an important area to address in order to
empower informed decision making (Crossler and Bélanger 2017). Thus,
G. FOX