Protecting One's Privacy: Insighs into the Views and Nature of the Early Adopters of Privacy Services

Abstract

Using privacy and security technology becomes increasingly important in many application areas, for companies as well as for consumers. However, the market for Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) is still small, especially in the private consumer segment. Due to the nature of the technology per se, little is known and can be learned about the views and motivation of those who carefully protect their transactions on the Net. Are they a niche group? Or do they hold views and have traits that promise a wider-spread adoption of PETs in the long run? This paper gives an insight into the traits and views of 5037 customers of a popular German anonymity service called JAP (Java Anon Proxy). Due its high service reputation and unchanged questions posted on the service’s website for over 2 ½ years insights could be gained on PET users’ demographic and psychographic traits. Moreover, 482 free-text comments could be analyzed to provide a unique insight into the thoughts, feelings and motivations of PET users.