Internet Privacy: Interpreting Key Issues

Abstract

The Internet has transformed the way in which goods are bought and sold. Forrester Research predicts retail sales on the Internet to grow from less than 1% in 1999 to 6% by 2003. According to Gartner Group, convenience and time saved are two of the main incentives for users to buy online. At the same time, however, research conducted by Price Waterhouse Coopers suggests that during the 1999 Christmas season, 18% of all customers who purchased online were “dissatisfied” with their experience. A Business Week/Harris Poll (see Business Week, March 20, 2000) survey reported that 41% of online shoppers were very concerned over the use of personal information. Among the people who go online but have not shopped, 63% were very concerned. Clearly, as Keeney (1999) suggests, maximizing privacy is a fundamental objective related to Internet commerce. The purpose of this paper is to identify issues related to maximizing Internet privacy. The paper is organized into five sections. Following a brief introduction, Section 2 explores the notion of Internet privacy and how various researchers have attempted to understand the concept. Section 3 presents the study design. Section 4 is a discussion of research findings. Section 5 presents the conclusions.