Privacy concerns in the smart home context

Abstract

With the rapid development of the Internet of Things, intelligent systems are increasingly finding their way into everyday life and into people’s homes. With the spread of these technologies, there is a growing concern about what sensitive data is collected and what it is used for. Unfortunately, the role of privacy has remained largely unexplored in the smart home (SH) usage context. This study addresses this gap in literature: to what extend users’ concerns for information privacy influence the intended SH usage. This study takes an interactional psychology perspective and links the dimensions of the privacy concerns to the intention to use SH devices. Therefore, a multi-theoretical model using Smart PLS 3.2.8 was tested. This study contributes to the literature on privacy, and SH usage by exploring how and why privacy concerns influence participants’ intended SH usage. The findings, derived from the empirical study emphasize the importance of addressing privacy concerns because they are capable of directly and indirectly influencing the intended SH usage. Finally, the results which indicate new directions for privacy and SH research are discussed and implications for research and practice are given.