Situational user consent for access to personal Information: Does purpose make any difference?

Abstract

Privacy literature in recent years has emphasized the role of context and situation in individuals' privacy regulation. While most research is focused on understanding situational effects on self-disclosure, the role of situational factors in users’ decision to consent for third-party access to information, a common practice with significant privacy implications, has been barely investigated. The current study bridges this gap by adopting the framework of situational privacy to examine the effect of the purpose for information collection on participants' consent. An online experiment examined users' consent to allow access to their Facebook profile to an unknown entity, with requests distinguished by the framing of the purpose for collecting information as related to security, commercial or academic research. Contrary to the study’s hypothesis, consent rate was similar between groups and purpose was non-significant in explaining participants’ decisions. Furthermore, in all three groups- compensation amount and general willingness to disclose information explain user consent, regardless of purpose. However, some specific factors significantly correlate with consent in each group separately. The study concludes that due to blurring boundaries and uncertainties regarding real uses of information, when it comes to consent for third-party access, predetermined attitudes and preferences are main factors influencing users’ decisions, thus a situational framework is partly adequate for explaining variations in user consent decisions.