Analysing the Causes and Implications of the Privacy Paradox: Consumer Surveillance and Online Data Collection

Abstract

Have you ever been bothered by wordy pages of the Terms of Agreement and directly selected agree without looking? With the advent of AI technology and its involvement in social media platforms on the internet, the 21st century is considered a relatively transparent (digital) era where personal information, preference, and behaviours are shared, studied, and manipulated online. Controversies lie in the extent to which the information is shared and whether they are leaked or legally authorised to be extracted. Although polls and surveys may suggest people care about their privacy, many still do not take measures to protect their privacy, and this inconsistency in attitudes is referred to as the ‘privacy paradox.’ Not only does this essay reveal the causes of privacy paradox and potential vulnerability faced by users, but it also investigates how these issues are reflected in reality, offers privacy regulation suggestions for businesses and policymakers in China, and captures a gender difference trend in terms of self-privacy regulations through surveying a selected sample of respondents and evaluating popular online responses on Chinese social media.