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“Where There Is Light, There Is Also Darkness”: Discussing Young Adults’ Willingness to Disclose Data to Use Wearables and Health Applications—Results from a Focus Group Study

Author

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  • Isabell Koinig

    (Department of Media and Communications, University of Klagenfurt, 9020 Klagenfurt am Wörthersee, Austria)

  • Sandra Diehl

    (Department of Media and Communications, University of Klagenfurt, 9020 Klagenfurt am Wörthersee, Austria)

Abstract

In recent years, the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) has gained momentum. This development has only been intensified by the current COVID-19 crisis, which promotes the development of applications that can help stop the virus from spreading by monitoring people’s movements and their social contacts. At the same time, it has become increasingly difficult for individuals to control the use of their private data by commercial companies. While Internet users claim to be highly interested in protecting their privacy, their behaviors indicate otherwise. This phenomenon is discussed in literature as the so-called privacy paradox. The existence of the privacy paradox has also been confirmed by previous studies, which found individuals’ claims and actions to contradict one another. The present study investigates the following research questions: (1) What significance do individuals attribute to protecting their privacy, with a special focus on the health sector? (2) To what extent are they willing to grant commercial parties access to their data in order to use applications in general and health applications in particular? Results from seven focus groups with 40 respondents aged 20–30 years were conducted in an urban setting in Austria in late 2019. The respondents’ inputs are meant to provide answers to these questions. The results indicate that, overall, the young generation is well-informed about the growing data collection and is quite critical of it. As such, their willingness to share information in the health context is only moderately pronounced. Thus, only a moderately pronounced privacy paradox can be detected for the health sector when compared to other sectors. In conclusion, implications and directions for further research are addressed.

Suggested Citation

  • Isabell Koinig & Sandra Diehl, 2022. "“Where There Is Light, There Is Also Darkness”: Discussing Young Adults’ Willingness to Disclose Data to Use Wearables and Health Applications—Results from a Focus Group Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-20, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:3:p:1556-:d:738277
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Buxmann, Peter, 2015. "Der Wert von Daten und Privatsphäre – empirische Ergebnisse aus Anwender- und Anbietersicht," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 77662, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    2. Thomas P. Novak & Donna L. Hoffman, 2019. "Relationship journeys in the internet of things: a new framework for understanding interactions between consumers and smart objects," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 216-237, March.
    3. Tamara Dinev & Paul Hart, 2006. "An Extended Privacy Calculus Model for E-Commerce Transactions," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 17(1), pages 61-80, March.
    4. John N. Gathegi, 2013. "Technology, Convergence, and the Internet of Things," Springer Books, in: Sandra Diehl & Matthias Karmasin (ed.), Media and Convergence Management, edition 127, chapter 15, pages 221-232, Springer.
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