Abstract
Over the years, trust has been extensively studied in many fields such as sociology, psychology, and economics. The sociologist Gambetta (2000) states that trust is one of the most important social concepts present in all human interaction and without it there is no cooperation or society. Berscheid (1994) also claims that trust is central to how we interact with each other; thus, it is a key to the positive interrelationships. Social psychologists use the notion of trust to predict acceptance of behaviors by others and institutions (e.g., government agencies). In literature, trust is defined in so many ways that it becomes more elusive than the physical dimensions of space and time. In time, due to the increase of human-computer interaction, trust has become one of the most challenging topics in computer science. Similar to the definitions of trust defined by sociologists and psychologists, computer scientists have also defined trust in their own way (McKnight & Chevany 1996; Falcone & Castelfranchi, 2001; Wang & Vassileva, 2003). How much we trust the source, information, or agent has become one of the hardest questions to answer. As computer technology advances, the need for trust between multiple parties in a communication-based systems increase.
Key Terms in this Chapter
User Profile: A user description that includes account ID, user ID, and password information. The characteristics that designate how a user works with Information Exchange.
Domain: The part of the external world, including users and inmates of the system that effects and is affected by the system.
Context: Any information that can be used to characterize the situation of an entity. An entity is a person, place, or object that is considered relevant to the interaction between a user and an application, including the user and application themselves.
Trust: A level of expectancy on a particular action of a person/agent in a context in which it affects our own action.
Cognitive: Pertaining to cognition, the process of being aware, knowing, thinking, learning and judging.
Sensor: A device that converts physical conditions into information so that the control system can understand the commands.
P2P: a peer-to-peer (or P2P) computer network is a network that relies on computing power at the edges (ends) of a connection rather than in the network itself. P2P networks are used for sharing content like audio, video, data or anything in digital format
Centralized System: The concept of a centralized system is one which has a major hub or hubs which peers communicate with. This system allows peers to be freed from certain efforts, giving them to the central body. Maintaining easily accessed and accurately updated lists of information on all clients is one way in which a central body shines.
Social Network: A map of the relationships between individuals, indicating the ways in which they are connected through various social familiarities ranging from casual acquaintance to close familial bonds.
E-Commerce: E-commerce (electronic commerce or EC) is the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet, especially the World Wide Web.